Juan Carlos Maccarone

Juan Carlos Maccarone (19 October 1940 – 29 March 2015) was an Argentine prelate of the Catholic Church who was bishop of the Diocese of Santiago del Estero from 1999 to 2005, when he resigned after evidence he had engaged in same-sex relations with a 23-year-old man became public. He had been a bishop since 1993, serving as auxiliary bishop of Lomas de Zamora for three years and bishop of Chascomús for two and a half years.

Early years Maccarone was born on 19 October 1940 in Buenos Aires. in Immaculate Conception parish in Burzaco.

From 1968 to 1978 he was professor of theology at Saint Joseph Major Seminary and at the Faculty of Theology of the Catholic University. From 1969 to 1972 he was a professor at the Catholic University of La Plata and from 1973 to 1975 at the "Presbítero Antonio Saenz" faculty of the diocese of Lomas de Zamora.

Bishop On 30 January 1993 at the age of 52, Maccarone was appointed auxiliary bishop of Lomas de Zamora in Argentina and titular bishop of Mauriana. He received his episcopal consecration on 21 April 1993 from Desiderio Elso Collino, Bishop of Lomas de Zamora.

He was a member of the delegation that represented the bishops of Argentina at the Constitutional Assembly of 1994 that revised the national constitution. and he was installed there on 24 September. He was installed there on 29 May. He developed a good reputation as a political progressive and advocated for the federal government's intervention in the region. He attacked the local police and government officials for corruption He later said he had been "used" to harm Maccarone. He said he was the victim of an extortion scheme, an act of political revenge, and suggested the involvement of Carlos Juárez, the powerful longterm local governor. He submitted his resignation on 19 August 2005 and Pope Benedict XVI accepted it the same day. The bishop of Santa Fe, José María Arancedo, praised his pastoral service as well as his prompt decision to resign. A spokesperson for the archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Bergoglio, the future Pope Francis, supported the view that Maccarone was targeted for his politics, and supporters held marches in support of Maccarone. He then returned to Argentina and continued to work as a priest in Claypole, Argentina, saying Mass for the nuns caring for handicapped children at the Cotolengo of Don Orione.