IMAGE: CNS photo/Sebastian Silva, EPA
By Junno Arocho Esteves
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The Chilean prosecutor’s office has
issued a subpoena to Cardinal Riccardo Ezzati of Santiago regarding his role in
the alleged cover-up of sexual abuse by members of the clergy.
In a statement released by the Archdiocese of Santiago July
24, Cardinal Ezzati said he was committed to helping victims “search for
the truth” and denied any wrongdoing.
“I have the conviction that I have never covered up nor obstructed justice, and as a citizen, I
will fulfill my duty of providing all records that will help to clarify the
facts,” he said.
The archdiocese confirmed that Cardinal Ezzati is scheduled
to testify Aug. 21.
The subpoena is believed to be related to the case of Father
Oscar Munoz Toledo,
the former chancellor of the Archdiocese of Santiago, who was arrested July 12 following allegations
that he abused seven minors in Santiago and Rancagua since 2002.
Rancagua prosecutor Emiliano Arias, accompanied by police, conducted
two search-and-seizure operations of archdiocesan offices in
connection with the charges against Father Munoz as well as several other
pending investigations.
Speaking to journalists July 12 after the second raid, Arias
confirmed that his office was investigating an alleged sex-abuse ring in
Rancagua as well as possible cover-ups of abuse cases by senior members of the
clergy, including Cardinal Ezzati and his predecessor, Cardinal Francisco
Javier Errazuriz.
During the first search operation, which took place June 13,
police raided the judicial offices of the Archdiocese of Santiago as well as
the offices of retired Bishop
Alejandro Goic Karmelic of Rancagua.
Bishop Goic, who served as president of the Chilean bishops’
commission for abuse prevention, was forced to suspend 14 of the diocese’s 68
priests in mid-May after an investigative report by a Chilean television channel
revealed the existence of the sex-abuse ring made up of clergy.
The news of Cardinal Ezzati’s summons comes on the heels of
the release of a 2013 letter addressed to the cardinal by Bishop Goic that was
seized during the June 13 raid and published by Chilean newspaper El Mercurio
July 22.
In his letter, Bishop Goic questioned the cardinal’s
commitment to victims of sexual abuse, including victims of Chilean Father Fernando Karadima, who was
found guilty of sexual abuse and sentenced by the Vatican in 2011 to a life of
prayer and penance.
“Sometimes I have the impression, perhaps subjective,
that you don’t
share the opinion of the national commission” regarding the sex abuse
scandals, he said.
“At the same time, members of the commission shared
their dissatisfaction with certain situations that you have had to take on. For
me, it hasn’t been easy;
to maintain communion with you and respect and listen to the critical judgments
of the members requires a complex balance,” Bishop Goic wrote.
He also called Cardinal Ezzati to task for not continuing to
meet with survivors of Father Karadima’s abuse, saying that although some were
harsh in their criticism of the church’s handling of abuse crisis, it does not
“take away their condition of wounded and damaged victims.”
“The impression that I have heard from your
collaborators in Santiago, as well as at (the bishops’ conference) is that you
do not listen with the willingness of heart to try to understand the
suggestions of others; that you reserve, at times, delicate matters without
sharing with others. I experienced some of that personally,” Bishop Goic
wrote.
In a July 23 statement, Bishop Goic criticized the release
of “private documents that were handed to authorities under the
reservation and confidentiality of a developing judicial investigation.”
He also said that document that was published was “a
draft text of a private letter that I prepared for the Archbishop of Santiago
at the time.”
“I never handed in or sent that document to its
recipient because I had the opportunity to speak directly with him about its
content,” the bishop said.
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