VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Service via National Catholic Reporter
July 13, 2018
By Junno Arocho Esteves
As the Catholic Church in Chile continues to reel from allegations of clerical sexual abuse and cover-ups, police arrested the former chancellor of the Archdiocese of Santiago on accusations he sexually abused minors.
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Chilean prosecutor Emiliano Arias told journalists that authorities arrested Fr. Oscar Munoz Toledo, the former chancellor, July 12 following allegations that he abused seven minors in Santiago and Rancagua since 2002.
In late May, news first broke that Munoz was suspended after he reported himself to church authorities for abuse. The suspension occurred Jan. 2, a little over a week before Pope Francis visited the country.
Juan Carlos Cruz, a survivor of abuse, expressed shock and outrage at the revelation, given the fact that he had reported the abuse he suffered to the former chancellor.
“The insolence — to put it mildly — is astonishing. [Munoz] was the one who took our statements, and nothing happened,” Cruz tweeted May 24.
In a statement released the day of the arrest, the Archdiocese of Santiago also confirmed that Arias, accompanied by police, conducted a second search and seizure operation in connection with the charges against Munoz as well as several other pending investigations.
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