VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Service
September 19, 2018
By Junno Arocho Esteves
As revelations of the sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable adults by clergy continue in Chile, an archbishop said that the church can no longer ignore the suffering of victims.
In a pastoral letter published Sept. 10, Archbishop Fernando Chomali of Concepcion said the Catholic Church in Chile must cooperate with authorities to uncover the truth, and it can no longer succumb to the temptation “of looking the other way and saying, ‘its other people (who are the problem), not me.'”
“We must obey the law because we are not above the norms that govern the country,” Chomali said.
The 20-page pastoral letter, titled “Living the Gospel in Times of Crisis,” was published several days before Chilean prosecutors conducted a raid of offices in four dioceses, including Concepcion.
Chomali said the aftermath of decades of abuse committed by members of the clergy in the country have turned a once vibrant church that “was a voice for the voiceless” into a social pariah.
“Today we are — for a growing percentage of the population — a cause of scandal, of profound questioning, of much distrust and little credibility,” he said.
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