Chilean Attorney's Office Investigates 148 Cases of Sexual abuses

Prensa Latina
January 08, 2019

https://bit.ly/2REKRXM

Santiago de Chile, Jan 8 (Prensa Latina) Today, the number of sexual abuse cases handled by the Chilean Public Prosecutor''s Office involving the Catholic Church has risen to 148, with eight bishops on target, according to the latest report from the Public Prosecutor''s Office.
In a balance sheet submitted by the national prosecutor, Jorge Abbott, on these processes, it is realized that in total there are 255 victims of sexual crimes committed by members of the clergy, 10 more than in a previous report presented in the second half of 2018.

The scandals of that court that shook the Chilean Church last year removed the social fabric of the country and, according to different polls, were decisive in a notable reduction in the number of faithful of the Catholic Church.

The crisis reached such a point that the Pope had to intervene in the matter by sending to Chile the special investigator Charles Scicluna, who interviewed many of the victims, and to summon to the Vatican the Chilean ecclesiastical leadership in full, to which he asked for the resignation.

However, according to Abott, the Vatican has only given the Chilean Prosecutor's Office partial information and not all the information requested to carry out the processes, as promised by Scicluna.

James Hamilton, one of the victims of sexual abuse, will also be summoned to testify because of the investigation into the alleged obstruction of the investigation against Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz.

Analysts indicate that the increase in the number of victims and cases under investigation is due to the growing confidence among those affected in the investigations being conducted by the Prosecutor's Office.