.- The Peruvian affiliate of Catholics for a Free Choice will begin operations in the country with a conference by an ex-Dominican friar from Mexico, Julian Cruzalta, who left the order five years ago and has made a career out of giving speeches about “the urgency” of changing Catholic teachings on abortion.
Although he presents himself as “Friar Julian Cruzalta, O.P.,” the self-proclaimed expert on moral theology was discredited by the Dominicans for using the order for his own purposes.
In May of 2008, Cruzalta attended hearings at the Supreme Court of Mexico and testified in support of the legalization of abortion in the Mexican capital, presenting himself as a friar even though he had left the Dominican Order. The Archdiocese of Mexico City’s news service issued a statement at the time by the provincial superior of the Dominicans, Friar Gonzalo Ituarte Verduzco, who said Cruzalta “is not a priest but was a deacon, that is, he had faculties to assist in certain priestly functions.”
Friar Ituarte said, “Julian Cruzalta had asked the Superior permission to leave the order for a year, but he never returned and we have not heard from him for more than four years. Therefore, his is living outside the order without the authorization of the Dominican provincial father or of Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera, Archbishop of Mexico City.”
Cruzalta has traveled across Mexico with pro-abortion, feminist and homosexual groups and for years has worked as an advisor to Catholics for a Free Choice, which continues to portray him as a priest, making him one of their most active spokesmen. He recently told Mexican reporters he rejected the reforms approved by 14 Mexican states protecting their constitutions from the legalization of abortion.
He also leads the controversial Magdala Ecumenical Community, which participates in campaigns that support homosexual practices.
