The Archdiocese of Tijuana announced that Father Noel Sebastián D’Mello—accused of raping a religious sister from the Congregation of the Missionaries of the Cross in 2020—will be removed from his position as parochial vicar and barred from exercising priestly ministry. He will also be assigned a specific place of residence under supervision for the duration of the civil legal proceedings he faces, in order to safeguard the well-being of individuals and ensure the proper administration of justice. (He is presumed innocent until a judicial authority declares him liable. Art. 13, CNPP)
The priest may not leave his assigned residence “until a verdict is handed down regarding the alleged crime,” stated Monsignor Mario Nicolás Villanueva Arellano, Apostolic Administrator of Tijuana, in a statement released on June 7, 2026. This announcement came one week after alumnae of the Santa Rosa de Lima School demanded justice for the religious sister during a protest outside the Our Lady of Guadalupe Queen of Mexico parish in Ejido Matamoros, where Father Noel had been serving as vicar.
In its statement this Sunday, the Archdiocese of Tijuana urged people to avoid any actions that—whether maliciously or intentionally—seek to incite hasty judgments or smear campaigns against any individual.
