SANTIAGO: Almost 80 Roman Catholic clergy have been accused of sexuallyabusing children in Chile since 2000, a US-based monitoring group saidWednesday ahead of a visit to the country next week by Pope Francis.
Francis, the first Latin American pontiff, has spoken out against suchabuse, which has rocked the church for years, but has faced calls toimprove accountability and transparency.
BishopAccountability.org compiled its database of clergy publicly accusedof sex abuse against minors using court and media records.
The group said the list represented a “fraction of the total number ofaccused clerics who would be known if Chile’s church leaders were requiredto report to law enforcement, if its legal system allowed victims more timeto bring criminal and civil charges, or if dioceses and religious orderswere investigated by prosecutors or state commissions.”
The list includes Chilean priest Fernando Karadima, accused of abusingchildren in 2010 and convicted by the Vatican, but not Chile.
Foreign-born clergy members on the list included Irishman Jeremiah Healy,American Jesuit H. Cornell Bradley, and Filipino Reverend Richard JoeyAguinaldo.
The group said it hoped the timing would push the pontiff to take actionneeded to stem the tide of abuse.
Protesters are expected along the pope’s parade route during his visit nextweek to Chile, a largely Catholic and socially conservative country.
The pontiff will then travel on to Peru.