CHILE
London School of Economics and Political Science
May 9, 2918
Pope Francis’ attempts to move the Catholic Church beyond the conservative sexual agenda of his predecessors have been undermined by abusive sexual practices within the Church itself, writes José Manuel Morán (Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, CONICET).
• n.b. republished courtesy of Sexual Policy Watch; Creative Commons licence does not apply
Things did not turn out as expected in Chile.
Pope Francis, whose image as a charismatic leader sharply contrasts with that of his predecessor Benedict XVI and who often deploys discourses that distance themselves from those promoted by John Paul II in his obsession with sexuality, was not as successful in connecting with Chilean people as on previous visits to Latin America.
The Pope was harshly criticised, even by local Catholic communities, in particular due to his lack of empathy towards victims of sexual abuse committed by Chilean priests. To many observers, the Pope’s visit to the country was the worst Francis has undertaken since he took office.
The Chilean context
What happened in Chile? Why didn’t the Pope attract religious people in the same way as in other Latin American countries?
Chile, while sharing a common history with the rest of the region, has certain peculiarities that differ from other regional contexts, which may underpin the failure of the papal visit in January, 2018.
At least two factors can be mentioned:
1. The impact that the clergy’s sex-abuse scandals had on people’s religious identification with the Church seems to be different from the rest of Latin America.
2. Francis’ marked disconnection with the “popular world” and Chilean social movements seems to be unprecedented in the region.
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