“Chilean Bishop Suspends 12 Priests, Apologizes for Not Acting Sooner” & related articles

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Bishop Goić’s apology came after a program detailing misconduct accusations aired and after the bishop returned from the Chilean bishops’ meeting with Pope Francis.

National Catholic Register

22 May 2018

Bishop Alejandro Goić Karmelić

Bishop Alejandro Goić Karmelić (Warko2006 CC 3.0)

RANCAGUA, Chile — Over the weekend, Chilean Bishop Alejandro Goić Karmelić suspended several priests after allegations of sexual misconduct were raised against them. He apologized for not following up when the accusations were first brought to his attention.

“I would like to ask forgiveness for my actions in this case,” the bishop said in a May 19 statement.

Bishop Goić, who heads the Diocese of Rancagua, said he “acted without the proper swiftness” when a woman came to him nearly a year ago with concerns regarding the conduct of Father Luis Rubio and other priests.

Bishop Goić’s apology came the day after a program detailing accusations against Father Rubio was aired on Chile’s TV13 channel, the same station that leaked Pope Francis’ 10-page letter to Chilean bishops chastising them for a systematic cover-up of clerical abuse and calling them to institute deep changes.

The program was aired May 18, the day after Bishop Goić returned from the May 15-17 Chilean bishops’ meeting with Pope Francis. The program focuses on the testimony of Eliza Fernandez, a youth minister in the parish of Paredones, who approached the bishop last year with concerns about Father Rubio’s behavior, particularly with minors.

Father Rubio had been part of a priestly fraternity referred to as “La Familia,” several of whose members have been accused of sexual misconduct, including the abuse of minors.

“I do not know whether to call it a brotherhood, a sect or a group of priests who have practices that do not conform to their status as clerics and with respect to young people,” Fernandez said in the program, adding that the confraternity had shown an unnatural interest in youth who were “between 15 and 29 years old” and that some publicly joked about being homosexual.

In the program, Father Rubio admitted to sending nude photos of himself to a Facebook account he thought belonged to a 16-year-old named Pablo but which was a fake profile Fernandez had set up to catch the priest.

“I’m not asking for saints, but for a person who is dignified,” Fernandez said in the program, adding that she cannot imagine how a priest would be able to hear her confession and then send naked photos to a minor via social media.

Having been approached by TV13 reporters after celebrating Mass May 12, Father Rubio in the footage admitted to sending the pictures, saying, “It was my mistake. I acknowledge that,” and calling the act “a horrible shame.”

When asked if he would remain a priest, Father Rubio said “it’s a decision that I need to make in my conscience.” He said the day was one “of great sadness for me, and I regret what I have done. … I recognize what I have done, that it is horrible, but I cannot say anything more.”

In a previous statement, aired on the program, Bishop Goić had said, “I did not study to be a detective. I studied to be a pastor.” He said that no one had come to him with a “formal accusation,” and that while Fernandez had reached out regarding personal concerns, she had not lodged an official complaint and had not given him any proof, so he could not investigate.

In his statement, Bishop Goić said he values the reporting done by TV13, “because they have delivered aspects that I did not know and which have affected me greatly and caused me great suffering, as well as the community.”

The bishop said he had already submitted a formal complaint to Rancagua’s prosecutor, which contained background on Father Rubio from the program, and that he will send all the information they have available to the Holy See this week.

Bishop Goić also suspended several diocesan priests mentioned in the TV13 program, asking them to halt their ministry until a full investigation can be done.

“I deeply regret any action or situation that violates the values and principles that underpin our Catholic Church, and I want to express my clear availability to collaborate in any type of procedure which derives from the knowledge of these facts,” he said.

He asked anyone with information about actions which “do not coincide with the priesthood” to inform their dioceses and provided the email addresses for the Diocese of Rancagua.

“I must admit that, personally, as a Christian and as a pastor, I find myself deeply affected by this difficult situation, which hurts and embarrasses me,” he said, and he prayed that “the truth will be revealed, the whole truth, in these cases and in any other situation which threatens the Gospel of the love of Christ.”

Bishop Goić, along with every other active bishop in Chile, submitted a written resignation to Pope Francis Thursday, the last day of their meeting with Pope Francis.

The meeting was called by Pope Francis himself last month, following an in-depth investigation of abuse cover-up by Chilean Church hierarchy. The investigation, carried out by Maltese Archbishop Charles Scicluna and Msgr. Jordi Bertomeu, resulted in a 2,300-page report, which has not been made public.

The investigation was initially centered around Bishop Juan Barros of Osorno, appointed to the diocese in 2015 and accused by at least one victim of covering up abuses of Chilean priest Fernando Karadima.

In 2011, Father Karadima was convicted by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of abusing minors and sentenced to a life of prayer and solitude. Allegations of cover-up were also made against three other bishops — Andrés Arteaga, Tomislav Koljatic and Horacio Valenzuela — whom Father Karadima’s victims accuse of knowing about his crimes and failing to act.

Pope Francis initially defended Bishop Barros, saying he had received no evidence of the bishop’s guilt and called accusations against him “calumny” during a trip to Chile in January. However, after receiving Archbishop Scicluna’s report, Francis apologized, said that he had been seriously mistaken, and asked to meet the bishops and more outspoken survivors in person.

As of now, no decisions have been made regarding the bishops’ fate, and it will be up to Francis whether to accept or reject their resignations.

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Abuses in Chile, new scandal: bishop suspends 15 priests

In the diocese of Rancagua Monsignor Goic, president of the episcopal commission for the prevention of abuse, did not investigate promptly and has now suspended more than 20 percent of his clergy

La Stampa

21 May 2018

Andrea Tornielli

Vatican City

Chilean Bishop Alejandro Goic

This yet another striking case helps to understand the reach of the phenomenon, which has become “a system”, and at the same time, tells of the shepherds’ inability to take adequate measures to combat it. It is a case that confirms the dramatic situation in which the Chilean Church has collapsed, whose episcopate in recent days has presented en bloc their resignation to Pope Francis so that he might be free to proceed as he best believes in renewing the hierarchies of the country.

Among the bishops who participated in the Vatican meetings summoned by the Pontiff, was the 78-year-old Bishop of Rancagua, Alejandro Goic, who – according to Il Sismografo – is currently the president of the Episcopal Commission for the Prevention of Sexual Abuse by the Clergy (Consejo nacional de prevención de abusos y acompañamiento a las víctimas). On his return to the diocese, in the city that rises about 80 kilometers from the Chilean capital Santiago, the prelate was forced to make a drastic decision, suspending from the ministry as many as 15 of his 68 priests (22 percent of the diocesan clergy), because suspected of being involved in a network of child abuse and exchange of pornographic material.

A few days ago, in the city of Rancagua the public learned about a parish priest forced to confess that he had sent pictures of himself naked to some young boys. Chilean TV, Canal 13, during a documented investigation, has suggested the existence of an organized group of diocesan priests, a network that calls itself “la famiglia“ (the family) with the “nonno” (grandfather)” at its top, followed by the “zie” (aunts) and “nipotiˮ (nephews), whose members would allegedly be involved in sexual trafficking through the web that also involves underage children.

Elisa Fernández, former coordinator of the diocesan youth ministry, has lead the accusation: the priests would involve young people between 15 and 19 years of age. Fernández assured she had witnessed the fact that priests in Rancagua were commenting on their sexual preferences for minors. A year and a half ago, Fernández had sent to Bishop Goic a list with the names of the priests involved, he however did not take any action.

For this reason, a few months ago, Fernández created a fake Facebook profile with which she pretended to be a 16-year-old boy named Pablo and contacted one of those priests, 54-year-old parish priest Luis Rubio Contreras. The priest fell into the trap and sent an erotic message and a picture of him completely naked to the alleged minor who contacted him. Don Contreras, interviewed by Canal 13, admitted: “I admit having done so, I know that it is horrible, but I can’t say more. It is a day of great sadness, I feel ashamed for what I have done”.

Following this episode, Bishop Goic first announced the decision to temporarily suspend the parish priest, to then suspend the other priests suspected of being affiliated to “the famigliaˮ, until the position of each is clarified. Elisa Fernández criticized the bishop for waiting so long before taking any action, even though she had met him four times to inform him about the existing network of abusers.

Monsignor Goic defended himself by declaring on Chilean TV13 that he “did not study to become a detective, but to be a pastor”. Then he explained that he had not prompt an in-depth investigation into Father Rubio because there had never been “a formal complaint” against him.

4 Responses to “Chilean Bishop Suspends 12 Priests, Apologizes for Not Acting Sooner” & related articles

  1. bc says:

    I would not be surprised that there is a so-called apology act in the jurisdiction where bishop Goic apologized last week. In Canada, BC was the first province to enact an apology act in 2006. It was followed by Saskatchewan and Manitoba in 2007 and Ontario in 2009. (Apology Act, 2009, S.O. 2009, c. 3). By virtue of such legislations apologies which could have previously been used as evidence of liability and/or fault are no longer admissible. Québec has no such legislation and in a civil action an apology could become admissible as evidence. Is widely believed in the legal community that this is why the Pope has opted recently to not apologize for the residential school scandal even though the Church never fundraised the 25 million it had committed itself to raise to compensate victims of residential schools and the TRC’s final report revealed that 6000 children had died in the custody of Canadian residential schools.

    Bishop Goic indeed said that he “did not study to become a detective, but to be a pastor”. His Canadian peers won’t say it now because it sounds so outrageous; but I’ve hear it before. As one of my very best friends a shepherd dog I can attest that they spook easily and quickly react and investigate to anything and everything that appears to be out of the ordinary. My shepherd dog friend is not fearful; on the contrary, she is fearless. She would rather die with her boots on than save herself. They are such devoted and bad ass dogs that bears and wolves avoid them altogether. She can’t help it: she’s hardwired to strongly react to anything that presents a threat to her flock. I should know, as I am virtually one of her sheep and I really do feel like nothing could possibly happen to me on her watch. That’s how the faithful ought to feel. That how children and vulnerable persons ought to feel when members of the clergy are around. Instead, they have to rely on lawyers. Imagine that: lawyers! Not so long ago it seems, lawyers were considered to be the scum of the Earth… weren’t they?

    The scandal of clerical abuse is going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better. The only exit strategy for the Church is total disclosure; of all the files on all of it’s known perverts. Even if it means that bishops are going to be convicted for enabling them.

  2. Rachael O'Reilly says:

    It’ is a bluff. Chile’s bishops are attempting to protect one of their own who has been proven to be up to his neck in colluding with nasty sex crimes against children. They are saying to to Francis- if he goes we all go. The Pope is not going to accept their en mass resignation. They know that. It is a stunt designed to say to the Chilean public that ‘we have the Pope’s continued confidence’.

    Very cynical. Very manipulative.

  3. Sylvia says:

    They haven’t resigned Rachel. They offered to resign. There’s no resignations to accept. Now what? What’s the next step in this sea of mass confusion? Will Pope Francis tell the 34 bishops to pen and hand in their resignations immediately? For some reason, I think not. We shall see.

    All is quiet

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