BBC News
April 23, 2010
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20100423/ZNYT03/4233004/2055/NEWS?Title=Chilean-Abuse-Case-Tests-Loyalty-of-a-Parish
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| The Rev. Juan Esteban Morales, who leads the parish once run by Father Karadima, recently offered his support for his predecessor before a Mass. |
SANTIAGO, Chile — The Rev. Fernando Karadima is one of Chile’s most respected and influential priests. Some go so far as to call him a “living saint,” who for half a century trained dozens of priests and helped mold thousands of young Catholics from Santiago’s elite.
Now four men who were once devoted followers have filed a criminal complaint alleging that Father Karadima, now 79, sexually abused them in secret for years.
One man said he had reported the abuse to Father Karadima’s superiors in the Archdiocese of Santiago as many as seven years ago, but they took no action. All four men have filed formal complaints with the archdiocesan tribunal and, receiving no response, spoke publicly for the first time this week.
But the allegations have been largely met not with anger at Father Karadima but with outrage at the accusers by many of his parishioners, a prominent conservative politician and church officials. They say a man so respected over so much time could not possibly have abused his followers, though as the news broke this week, a cardinal here confirmed that the church has been secretly investigating claims of sexual abuse leveled against the priest.
The case, in one of Latin America’s most staunchly Catholic countries, comes at a time when the Roman Catholic Church worldwide is under increasing scrutiny over how it handles accusations of sexual abuse of minors by the clergy. It also underscores the church’s continuing vulnerability as new instances of abuses are alleged around the Catholic world — some, as in Chile, against well-known and trusted figures.
Chile’s Catholic Church officially asked for forgiveness earlier this week for priests involved in some 20 cases of sexual abuse against minors.
Now four men who were once devoted followers have filed a criminal complaint alleging that Father Karadima, now 79, sexually abused them in secret for years.
One man said he had reported the abuse to Father Karadima’s superiors in the Archdiocese of Santiago as many as seven years ago, but they took no action. All four men have filed formal complaints with the archdiocesan tribunal and, receiving no response, spoke publicly for the first time this week.
But the allegations have been largely met not with anger at Father Karadima but with outrage at the accusers by many of his parishioners, a prominent conservative politician and church officials. They say a man so respected over so much time could not possibly have abused his followers, though as the news broke this week, a cardinal here confirmed that the church has been secretly investigating claims of sexual abuse leveled against the priest.
The case, in one of Latin America’s most staunchly Catholic countries, comes at a time when the Roman Catholic Church worldwide is under increasing scrutiny over how it handles accusations of sexual abuse of minors by the clergy. It also underscores the church’s continuing vulnerability as new instances of abuses are alleged around the Catholic world — some, as in Chile, against well-known and trusted figures.
Chile’s Catholic Church officially asked for forgiveness earlier this week for priests involved in some 20 cases of sexual abuse against minors.
Father Karadima reinvented Catholic Action, founded by Father Hurtado as a sort of youth movement to help the poor, and installed it in El Bosque, which has traditionally served some of Santiago’s most influential families.
Dr. Hamilton’s was among them. His great-grandfather founded St. George, one of Santiago’s most prestigious English boys schools. His mother attended Villa Maria Academy, an exclusive Catholic school for girls.
Dr. Hamilton’s father disappeared from his life for a decade. He found solace and direction in El Bosque during the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet.
“It was the place where all the doubts and anguish about dictatorship dissipated, where they spoke of the power of Pinochet as coming from God,” he said.
Impeccably dressed and with perfectly groomed nails and slicked-back hair, Father Karadima cut an aristocratic figure, appealing to both young and old.
In 1983, Dr. Hamilton was invited to join Catholic Action, which he considered to be a great honor. Some 300 young people would gather once a week before Mass to listen to Father Karadima talk of “sainthood,” which he saw as “based on absolute obedience and the humbleness of recognizing our weaknesses and sins.”
The priest offered to be his confessor and spiritual guide. “ I felt like I was being chosen by God,” Dr. Hamilton said.
The priest said that to guide someone, he had to know the person completely. At first most of their confessions were focused on Dr. Hamilton’s sexuality.
Juan Carlos Cruz, a Chilean who is now a corporate executive in the United States, said that when he was a 17-year-old seminary student who had just lost his father, Father Karadima also used confession as way to abuse him, touching his genitals and kissing him on the mouth. He said that in confession he had told Father Karadima that he was confused about his sexuality. He said the priest took advantage of that knowledge to intimidate him into remaining silent.
“This man had total power over me,” Mr. Cruz said. “I just wanted to commit suicide but I wasn’t brave enough to do it and I didn’t want to do that to my mother.”
Now 46, Mr. Cruz said he eventually recovered with the support of psychologists, his family and friends. But he said that in Santiago, Father Karadima’s sexual transgressions with his young followers were an open secret, and that it was not hard for his victims to find one another.
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