SANTIAGO (CHILE)
Crux
May 4, 2019
By Inés San Martín
A recently signed agreement between the Catholic Church in Chile and the local prosecutor’s office has caused uproar, with critics charging that it unduly provides protections and privileges to the Church.
The agreement was signed on Tuesday by the national prosecutor, Jorge Abbott, and the secretary general of the Chilean bishops’ conference, Bishop Fernando Ramos, who’s one of ten bishops called to testify facing allegations of having covered up cases of abuse.
The “Collaborative Framework Agreement with the Public Prosecutor’s Office” signed this week seeks to promote the exchange of information between the Church and the prosecutor regarding allegations and investigations of sexual crimes committed by clerics, protecting the confidentiality of whistleblowers who request it and respecting current legislation.
“The present agreement is founded and sustained by good faith that all sides declare and commit to sustain,” says the text, which asserts that interaction between the Catholic Church and the prosecutor’s office from now on will be “amicable” and carried out through direct negotiations.
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