VATICAN (CNS): On April 23, the 155-member Chilean House of Representatives unanimously approved a measure that would add clergy and religious men and women to the list of police, members of the armed forces, teachers and civil servants who are obliged to report all crimes under article 175 of Chile’s penal code.
 
However, while Chile’s bishops expressed their support, the also they expressed concerns that the update to the country’s current law would force clergy to break the sacramental seal of confession.
 

VATICAN (CNS): Cristian Precht, once hailed as a champion of human rights in Chile, was expelled from the priesthood by Pope Francis after being found guilty of sexual abuse. The Archdiocese of Santiago announced his dismissal from the clerical state on September 15 with “no possibility of appeal.”
 
The decree, sent by Luis Cardinal Ladaria, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, confirmed “the dispensation from all obligations united to the sacred ordination of Father Cristian Precht Banados.”

SANTIAGO (CNS): Bishop Santiago Silva of the Military Diocese of Chile, president of the Chilean Bishops’ Conference, apologised to abuse survivors for the bishops’ failure to “react in time to the painful sexual abuse and abuse of power and authority” as the conference concluded its 116th Extraordinary Plenary Assembly on August 3 in Punta de Tralca on the Pacific Coast.
 

VATICAN CITY (CNS): After private meetings with Pope Francis, three survivors of clergy sexual abuse from Chile, Juan Carlos Cruz, James Hamilton and Jose Andres Murillo, said they felt they had been heard and were hopeful for changes in the way the Catholic Church handles accusations of abuse.
 

LIMA (CNS): A weeklong pastoral visit to Chile and Peru saw Pope Francis tackling many a politically charged issue. Addressing large audiences that included political leaders, he denounced human trafficking, decried environmental destruction, corruption and organised crime.
 

SANTIAGO (CNS): The evil of sexual abuse committed by members of the clergy has betrayed the trust of the faithful and caused suffering to those in priesthood and religious life who bear the consequences of their brethren’s sins, Pope Francis said on January 16.
 

SANTIAGO (SE): On September 11, the 40th anniversary of the military coup which saw the democratically elected president of Chile, Salvador Allende, ousted and killed by the butcher general, Augusto Pinochet, the president of the Episcopal Conference of Chile, Archbishop Ricardo Ezzati Andrello, called on the nation to commemorate the tragic event by persevering on the path of truth, justice and reconciliation.