CHILE
Christian Today

Ruth Gledhill CHRISTIAN TODAY CONTRIBUTING EDITOR 13 September 2015

The Catholic Church has been drawn into a new scandal after senior clerics conspired to block a survivor from joining the Pope’s sex abuse advisory board, accusing him of “lies”.

Emails between the Archbishop of Santiago and his predecessor, leaked to Chile’s top online newspaper El Mostrador, show how they blocked Juan Carlos Cruz from the Holy See’s advisory board, set up by the Pope last year to help create a climate of greater accountability.

Cardinal Ricardo Ezzati and his predecessor Cardinal Francisco Javier Errázuriz were both concerned that if details of the abuse emerged the Church would be damaged as a result. “I hope we can prevent lies from finding space between those who belong to the same church,” Cardinal Ezzati wrote to Cardinal Errazuri.

Cruz was one of many boys abused by Father Fernando…