Chile: The Bell Tolls

CHILE

The Bell Tolls

Chile plans a “historic trial” for the Catholic Church for attempting to hide or destroy evidence related to sexual abuse.

The case adds weight to a letter from Pope Francis to the country’s bishops’ conference in which he wrote, “We know that there were religious who destroyed evidence,” the Crux reported.

Last week, Chile announced it has compiled a registry of 158 people related to the Church who have been investigated on sexual abuse allegations since 2000. The cases involve at least 266 victims, 178 of whom were minors at the time they were abused.

Prosecutor Emiliano Arias will question the head of the Archdiocese of Santiago, Cardinal Ricardo Ezzati, the de facto head of the Catholic Church in Chile, regarding the alleged cover-up on Aug. 21.

The news follows the resignation on Friday of Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, former archbishop of Washington, DC, who has figured in multiple accusations of sexual abuse. Earlier, Australian Archbishop Philip Wilson was convicted of covering up child sex abuse and Cardinal George Pell of Australia was ordered to stand trial on multiple charges of abuse.