Cardinal Ricardo Ezzati A top Chilean cardinal who has been summoned by civil prosecutors to testify over allegations that he covered up clerical sexual abuse has told the priests of his archdiocese that the “crimes” of the Church have contributed to a “climate of tension” being lived in the country.
According to local media, Cardinal Ricardo Ezzati of Santiago said: “We live in a moment of tension at a national level and in the Church. We, the Church, have contributed to the tension with our problems and our crimes.”
“Ours is a Church that is living a special moment in its history, we live in the situation of a Church whose bishop [Ezzati himself] has already presented his resignation to the Holy Father a year and eight months ago, after reaching the age of 75, who has been deprived in these last months of the service of four of his auxiliary bishops, appointed to be apostolic administrators of vacant dioceses,” Ezzati said.
The Church in Santiago, the cardinal noted, is living through “several canonical and judicial investigations, in relation to brother priests,” which is similar to what’s happening in other dioceses throughout Chile.