BishopAccountability.org
	Seized Documents Reveal Priest’s Abuse Victims By Phil Locker Santiago Times April 18, 2011 http://www.santiagotimes.cl/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=21253:seized-documents-reveal-priests-abuse-victims&catid=1:other&Itemid=38 Light shed on Karadima case as judge has police raid lawyer’s office; former Archbishop Errazuriz agrees to testify to judge Santiago judge Jessica Gonzalez late last week ordered plainclothes policemen to raid the office of Juan Pablo Bulnes, the defense attorney for Father Fernando Karadima, the upscale Catholic Church priest accused of sex abuse. Bulnes defended Karadima during the Vatican’s investigation into Karadima’s misbehavior, but refused to hand over Vatican documents revealing the victims’ identities. The Vatican in February ruled that Karadima was guilty of abusing two minors, prompting Chile’s judiciary to reopen its own criminal investigation into the Karadima case. The police confiscated Vatican documents in Bulnes’ office relating to the Church’s investigation into Karadima’s behavior, prompting concerns by the Church that Judge Gonzalez had overstepped the bounds that normally separate Church and civilian court proceedings. One of the documents confiscated by the police was the Vatican’s decree condemning Karadima. The seized document mentioned two people belonging to the El Bosque congregation during the 70s, who are now both older than 40. Both are identified as victims, among “others,” whose identities remain unknown. Gonzalez, who worked with the Special Police Operations Brigade in obtaining the documents, also seized a report from Church legal counsel Fr. Fermin Donoso about Karadima’s appeal to the Vatican and several declarations, including one from Karadima himself. Judge Gonzalez told press that the objective had been to “recover records and get some background that is important to the investigation.” Defense attorney Bulnes was upset with the police action. “They took all of the papers and a disc,” said Bulnes, “and was a violation of professional secrecy.” The judge’s decision triggered debate in Chile’s Bar Association, whose board of directors unanimously condemned the raid and announced it would consider more drastic measures. Ricardo Ezzati, the Archbishop of Santiago, however, said that the issue is “certainly very delicate (…) secrets are one of our rights as humans,” but also acknowledged that the judge was just “doing her duty.” The Archbishop also announced on Saturday that the former Archbishop of Santiago, Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz, was now prepared to make a statement to criminal investigators. During Errazuriz’s time as Archbishop, victims of Karadima came to him, but he never made these concerns public. Ezzati, however, said that in Errazuriz’s declaration the former Archbishop would have to be careful to defend the victims’ privacy: “There are certain things that people trust a priest or a bishop with under certain conditions. I think these conditions are a human right and we have to respect them.” One of Karadima’s identified victims, Jose Andres Murillo, told Radio Cooperativa on Saturday that “anything that will clarify the facts is going to help (…) if this means that Cardinal Errazuriz has to make a statement, then it seems essential to me.” editor@santiagotimes.cl This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
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