SANTIAGO – A Chilean bishop’s office in Rancagua has dismissed 14 priests suspected of covering up cases of child abuse by pedophile priest Fernando Karadima in 1980s and ’90s. The scandal has rocked Pope Francis’ papacy.
“Fourteen priests no longer are allowed to carry out their duties… These priests have taken part in actions that may be civilian crimes as well as within the church,” the bishop’s office in the city of Rancagua said.
Nicknamed “the Family”, the group of priestly offenders commited sex abuses with young people including minors, churchgoer Elisa Fernandez told Channel 13 last week.
All 34 Catholic bishops resign over Chile child abuse scandal
Last Friday, 34 Chilean bishops announced their resignation over the child sex abuse scandal.
The striking announcement came after the pontiff summoned the bishops over the scandal.
Several members of the Chilean church hierarchy are accused by victims of ignoring and covering up child abuse by Chilean paedophile priest Fernando Karadima during the 1980s and 1990s.
On Thursday evening, Francis promised “changes” to the Chilean church to “restore justice” in a short declaration to the bishops, which was made public.
But in a confidential 10-page document leaked Friday by Chilean TV channel T13, the Argentine pope goes much further in his indictment of the Chilean Church.
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The letter – handed to the bishops at the start of their meetings with Francis – evokes “crimes” and “painful and shameful sexual abuse of minors, abuses of power and conscience by ministers of the Church.” It qualifies the removal of certain prelates from their roles as necessary but “insufficient,” calling for “the roots” that allowed such abuse within an “elitist and authoritarian” Chilean Church to be examined.
The damning letter also outlines findings of an investigation, ordered by Pope Francis, into the abuse allegations.
It says the probe found senior church officials had destroyed proof in cases of sex abuse and that certain members of the clergy who had displayed immoral behaviour had been transferred to other dioceses after attempts to “minimize” the gravity of their actions.
Grave accusations “were superficially qualified as improbable,” the letter says, denouncing bishops for their “terrible negligence in protecting children.” In April 2002, Pope John Paul II summoned 13 American cardinals and bishops to Rome after a huge paedophilia scandal within the clergy.
