Chile Shaken by Sex Abuse
Allegations against Revered Priest
By Daniela Estrada
SANTIAGO (IPS) - A small group of
feminists demonstrated outside the
Metropolitan Cathedral in the Chilean
capital Thursday to express their
condemnation of an influential Catholic
priest accused of sexually abusing at
least five teenagers.
"Imagine what a shock it is for those of
us who did not know what was really
going on with these priests,"
44-year-old Edita Andrade told IPS, as
she watched the protest by a score of
representatives of Articulación
Feminista Por la Libertad de Decidir
(Feminist Network for the Right to
Choose).
"I think it's a good thing for people to
wake up and react. Religion cannot be
used to cover up these crimes," Andrade
said. A few steps away Sonia, another
Chilean woman, was calling for priests
involved in sexual abuse to be
specifically named. "We need to avoid
generalising, because not all priests
are the same," she told IPS.
"Many things are damaging the Catholic
Church. Covering up child sex abuse
crimes is one of them," Octavio Rojas,
who joined the symbolic protest in
Santiago's main square, told IPS.
This South American country of 17
million people has been shaken by the
case of Fernando Karadima, formerly
parish priest at the Church of the
Sacred Heart of Jesus in the well-to-do
Santiago neighbourhood of Providencia,
who is under investigation by the
justice system for alleged sexual abuse
committed two decades ago involving at
least five teenage boys.
The 80-year-old Karadima, who is
described as a charismatic, influential
and highly respected cleric who trained
many priests, some of whom are now
bishops, denies the allegations. He has
been defended this week by members of
religious orders and ordained and lay
Catholics.
James Hamilton, a 44-year-old
gastroenterologist, and Juan Carlos
Cruz, a 46-year-old executive living in
the United States, denounced Karadima in
an article published Apr. 22 in The New
York Times.
Hamilton, Cruz and three other men who
were allegedly abused by the priest,
starting when they were under 18, talked
about their experiences on the Informe
Especial programme of the state
Televisión Nacional de Chile channel on
Apr. 27.
Previously, on Apr. 21, the president of
the Chilean Bishops' Conference,
Monsignor Alejandro Goic, formally
apologised to Chilean society for the
cases of sexual abuse committed by
priests.
Goic, who is also bishop of Rancagua,
said 20 priests have been accused of
paedophilia in Chile. Five have been
convicted, another five are being
actively investigated by the justice
authorities, and the rest have either
been absolved or their cases are still
under review.
Four days later, Cardinal Francisco
Javier Errázuriz admitted in a letter
read out at mass in every Catholic
church that he had suspended an
investigation into Karadima's alleged
behaviour in 2005, in order to await
"further evidence" and to consult
experts in canon law.
He said the investigation was resumed in
2009, when he handed over the evidence
against Karadima to a new Church "Promotor
of Justice", appointed last year, for a
thorough investigation of the facts, for
either "a declaration of innocence or
the necessary measures."
"There is no room in the priesthood for
those who abuse minors and there is no
pretext whatever that can justify this
crime," said the cardinal, who called on
victims to report their experiences.
"Citizens have a duty, not only to
discuss all the details of these cases
in public, but also to demand
punishment," Adriana Gómez of
Articulación Feminista, an umbrella
group of some 20 organisations, told IPS.
"Women's organisations have been
struggling over the last few years
against a Catholic Church that imposes a
very strict morality and harsh rules on
us, and then we see impenetrable secrecy
as they close ranks around those who
committed these crimes, which are
treated as misdemeanours, human
failings," she complained.
In Gómez's view, the recent statements
by the Chilean church leadership are not
enough. "I don't think there is complete
transparency yet. It seems some are more
protected than others. So far there have
been few criminal penalties. I'm sure
Karadima will only be punished by
sending him on 'spiritual retreat'," she
predicted.
As well as penalties for priests found
guilty of child abuse and reparations
for the victims, Articulación Feminista
is demanding that the Catholic Church
refrain from interference in state
matters and desist from its "control
over people's bodies, sexuality and
reproduction," a reference to the
country's complete ban on abortions,
among other issues.
Ena von Baer, official spokeswoman for
right-wing President Sebastián Piñera,
said Wednesday in reference to the
Karadima case that the government "will
always be on the side of the victims"
while it waits for a judicial verdict.
Amid the global scandal over paedophile
priests, on Apr. 12 the Vatican posted
guidelines from the Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith, which says that
the facts in these cases should "always"
be reported to the civil authorities.
According to the last census in 2002,
nearly 90 percent of Chileans over the
age of 15 believed in some form of
religion. Of these, 70 percent said they
were Catholic, 15.1 percent were
protestant, and 4.4 percent belonged to
other faiths. |
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