SANTIAGO (CHILE)
The Associated Press
August 14, 2018
By Eva Vergara
Chilean authorities raided the headquarters of the Catholic Church’s Episcopal Conference on Tuesday as part of a widespread investigation into sex abuse committed by members of the Marist Brothers order in the South American country, prosecutors said.
The raids by investigating prosecutors and Chile’s equivalent of the FBI took place at one of the most important buildings of the Chilean church in the capital of Santiago. Investigating prosecutor Raul Guzman, who confirmed the raid, is probing more than 35 accusations of abuse committed against former students at schools run by the Marists, who are religious brothers, not priests.
Guzman told local news media that investigators were collecting information to help identify victims.
After leaving the Episcopal Office headquarters, the investigators went to the offices of the Marist order and also collected information there, according to Alejandro Pena, an attorney for the order. He said he hoped the action would help resolve the case.
In a statement sent to The Associated Press, seven of the complainants said, “We feel profound satisfaction at seeing the advance of investigations needed to do justice.”
They noted that there had been suspicions of attempts to destroy or hide documents — an allusion to a previous raid on a diocese where investigators found church workers trying to destroy documents.
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