The appointment of Archbishop-elect Ferrada signifies a much greater recognition than the Chilean's recent work at the Vatican.

He was one of the first priests to publicly testify before Chile's justice system against Fernando Karadima, the most notorious figure in the country's huge clergy sex abuse scandal.

While Archbishop-elect Ferrada was never sexually assaulted by Karadima, he testified that the former priest had a manipulative personality and was capable of "exerting great influence on people".

This testimony was essential, as it confirmed the complaints of many victims. Read more

Survivors believe they have won a major victory in their quest for justice as the original lawsuit they brought before the court was dismissed five years ago.

However, new evidence obtained from raids conducted on the archdiocesan chancery proved that Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz, the retired archbishop of Santiago, closed an investigation into Karadima.

The court was said to have awarded 450 million pesos ($661,000) in compensation for damages to Karadima's victims.

In a press statement, abuse survivors Juan Carlos Cruz, James Hamilton and Jose Andres Murillo said that although the path to the verdict was long and full of difficulties, "it was worth it.

"The strategies of the Chilean church, especially Cardinals (Riccardo) Ezzati and Errazuriz, in covering up abuses, protecting abusers and silencing victims has received a strong response from Chilean courts."

The survivors say both the Chilean courts and the Vatican are "on the same line to end the culture of abuse and cover-up of which the cardinals are faithful representatives."

The court's ruling centered on an email sent in 2009 by Cardinal Errazuriz to Archbishop Giuseppe Pinto, the former apostolic nuncio to Chile.

In this, Errazuriz says he presented the accusations of abuse to the archdiocesan promotor of justice, the church's canonical prosecutor, because "it usually calms the aggressiveness of the accusers.

"Out of respect for Father Karadima, I did not ask the prosecutor to interrogate him; I only asked (Auxiliary) Bishop Andres Arteaga for his opinion. He thought that everything was absolutely implausible. Considering the facts, I closed the investigation," Errazuriz wrote.

Source

• The Tablet
• The Catholic Spirit
• Image: National Catholic Reporter

Addressing the eight-page letter to the "People of God" in Chile, Francis thanked survivors for their "courageous perseverance" for speaking out.

He said he is ashamed of the Church's failure to listen to victims, and urged all the baptised to make a commitment to ending the culture of abuse and cover-up.

The Catholic church will never again ignore victims or cover up their complaints, he vowed.

The victims' cries had "reached heaven" he said.

At the start of the letter, Francis said he had asked for the Chilean bishops (with whom he met in mid-May) to ask the whole church to pray for the Holy Spirit's guidance.

"I invited the bishops to look to where the Holy Spirit is moving us, since 'closing our eyes to our neighbor also blinds us to God'", he wrote.

"With joy and hope I received the news that there were many communities, towns and chapels where the People of God were praying, especially the days we were gathered together with the bishops ...".

Admitting the Church's "shame" for not listening to the victims, Francis said he wanted to place the focus on ordinary believers who will be the salvation and renewal of the church.

He said this is not a token gesture, but acknowledges a church leadership cut off from the people is a "perversion" of ecclesiastical structures.

"Every time it tries to replace, silence, ignore or downsize to small elites the Church is left without a body, and ultimately without life," he said.

The Church's lack of knowledge about how to listen to the victims is a big problem, Francis noted.

Because of this lack, "partial conclusions were drawn which lacked crucial elements for a healthy and clear discernment. With shame I must say that we did not know how to listen and react in time".

After meeting with victims, Francis says he noted how "the lack of recognition/listening to their stories, as well as the recognition/acceptance of the errors and omissions in the entire process, impedes us from making headway.

"Recognition ought to be more than an expression of goodwill toward the victims".

It ought to be "a new way to for us to adopt a new attitude before life, before others and before God".

Source

• Catholic News Agency
• Irish World
• Image: Zenit

But far from ending the crisis, the decision heralds the beginning of a long rebuilding process in which Pope Francis will have a free hand to choose their successors.

After their week in Rome, Chile's bishops have now returned to their dioceses. Despite submitting their resignations to Pope Francis they will remain in their posts until these are accepted.

In a few cases, Rome's decision will probably not take long. In others, Pope Francis will need time to consider and perhaps study the various files.

Meanwhile, as a result of the shock caused by Friday's events, new sex abuse cases have already begun to emerge.

Over the weekend, a group of priests from Rancagua, south of Santiago, were accused of belonging to a vast network of abusers.

Bishop Alejandro Goic Karmelic of Rancagua reportedly first received these accusations 18 months ago. However, he took no action for lack of evidence despite presiding over the Chilean church commission responsible for fighting sexual abuse.

This weekend, he finally announced the suspension of 15 priests — nearly a quarter of the priests of the diocese!

Meanwhile, the collective resignation of the Chilean bishops will give Pope Francis a free hand to tackle the issues.

On Tuesday, he predicted that the problems "will not be solved simply by dealing with particular cases and reducing them to the dismissal of individuals."

"That will be necessary, as I have clearly said, but it is not enough," he said. "We need to go further."

"It would be irresponsible on our part not to go deeper and look at the root of the problem and the structures that allowed these events to occur and perpetuate themselves," he said.

He cited an "elitist psychology that ends up by generating dynamics of division, separation, 'closed circles,' leading to a narcissist and authoritarian spirituality," the pope said.

This occurred to the extent that, as the victims themselves attested, the Chilean bishops did not hesitate to "dupe" the pope of the facts, leading him to side with them and repudiate victims.

It will take a long time for the Chilean Church to rebuild itself on a healthy basis. However, Francis wants the whole church involved including laypeople.

How are Vatican officials responding?

Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, was the only other Vatican official to take part in Pope Francis' series of face to face meeting with the Chilean bishops.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Curia was kept at a distance from the matter, which personally implicated the pope. The Vatican continued to function normally throughout the week.

On Saturday, however, the coincidence between the announcement of the canonization of Archbishop Oscar Romero and the funeral of Colombian Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, who backed Rome's takeover of the Latin American Church under Pope John Paul II, led some observers to raise questions as to whether it was opportune to take a fresh look at these events.

Another person involved here and who had close ties with Chile was Pope John Paul II's secretary of state, Cardinal Angelo Sodano.

As nuncio in Santiago during the Pinochet dictatorship, Sodano helped fashion the current Chilean Church. Continue reading

• Image: Now the end begins

"I caused this, and I apologize to you," he is reported to have said.

The survivors have urged Pope Francis to transform his apology for having discredited them into concrete action to end what they called the "epidemic" of sex abuse and cover-up in the Catholic Church. Read more