Sexual Abuse Scandal with Chilean Priest Resurfaces

By Emily Green
Santiago Times
November 29, 2012

http://www.santiagotimes.cl/chile/human-rights-a-law/25455-sexual-abuse-scandal-with-chilean-priest-resurfaces

Former priest Fernando Karadima was found guilty of sexual abuse by the Vatican in 2011. Photo by lizunamo2/Flickr.

Victims sexually abused in the 1980s by infamous Santiago priest Fernando Karadima are requesting monetary compensation from the Catholic Church on the grounds that the Archbishopric of Santiago failed to properly investigate allegations against Karadima in 2004.

On Tuesday, the three plaintiffs, James Hamilton, Jose Andres Murillo and Juan Carlos Cruz, initiated a civil suit against the Archbishopric of Santiago, now led by Archbishop Ricardo Ezzati, for the personal distress caused by the Church.

“It’s come to this because (the Church) has given us no other options,” Hamilton told local press. “There has not been any kind of spiritual accompaniment or reparations.”

Karadima was found guilty by the Vatican but was never convicted by the state following a long history of accusations and investigations against the high-profile priest who led a parish in Santiago’s El Bosque borough from 1973 to 1990. While rumors and accusations against Karadima for sexual abuse circulated as early as 1984, no investigations happened for years.

Chile’s National Prosecutor’s Office began an investigation of Karadima in 2010, but dismissed the case in December of the same year due to insufficient evidence. The following month, in January of 2011, he was found guilty by the Vatican of sexually abusing minors, was stripped of his priesthood and sentenced to a life of penance and prayer.

The Court of Appeals then reopened the case in March 2011, but in October, Judge Jessica Gonzalez closed the case, ruling that there would be no criminal prosecution. While there was sufficient evidence for Karadima’s conviction, the case was closed due to a concern about Chile’s 10-year statute of limitations for sexual abuse of children, beginning once the victim turns 18.

The victims claim the church and its bishops knew of the sexual abuse occurring during the 1980s and 1990s but turned a blind eye to the accusations, consequently putting other members of Karadima’s parish at risk.

“We want to show that Church authorities were aware (of complaints) for many years, and that they could have prevented further abuse,” Hamilton said.

Hamilton said the plaintiffs “have knowledge” of other cases of abuse. The victims also said they have taken their request for compensation to the Church multiple times in past years, but have received no response.

“For about two years since the sentence, we have taken the initiative to approach the Church and we have received nothing but closed doors,” Cruz said.

In an interview with TVN in October, Bishop Alejandro Goic, president of the Church’s Council for the Prevention of Abuse, said victims deserved compensation, but said the Church did not have the necessary resources.

For Cruz, the lawsuit is an attempt to “set a precedent” for future cases of this nature and to end “concealment, bullying and darkness in the Church.”