CHILE
Catholic Sentinel
Catholic News Service
SANTIAGO, Chile — The Catholic Church in Chile announced that Father Gerardo Joannon, a prominent Chilean priest, will be sent to a community in Madrid “to initiate a process of psychological and spiritual accompaniment” after his alleged involvement in a scandal of stolen newborn babies.
Father Alex Vigueras, provincial superior of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in Chile, said Aug. 12 that an internal investigation conducted by the Archdiocese of Santiago concluded there is credible evidence that Father Joannon was involved in irregular adoptions during Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship.
The case is already being investigated by Chilean Judge Mario Carroza, who is working to establish the extent of the network that stole newborn babies from single mothers to give them to married couples during the 1970s and 1980s.
The victims were unmarried women, generally from well-off families, who were pressured by their relatives to give up their child for adoption to avoid the social stigma of unmarried motherhood. If they refused to do so, they were led to believe that their baby had died during childbirth.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.