What happened?
The former chancellor of the Archdiocese of Santiago, Chile, was arrested following allegations that he had abused seven children aged 11 to 17. Five of the reported victims were his nephews. The priest, Fr Óscar Muñoz Toledo, has been jailed pending a trial. Police are investigating the possibility that abuse claims were ignored by the archdiocese. Cardinal Riccardo Ezzati, who promoted the priest to the role in 2011, said Fr Muñoz told him in December that he had abused a nephew.
What Chileans are saying
As chancellor, Fr Muñoz was responsible for collecting testimony from abuse victims. Juan Carloz Cruz, one of those who reported his abuse to Fr Muñoz, wrote on Twitter: “The insolence – to put it mildly – is astonishing. He was the one who took our statements, and nothing happened.”
Another survivor who related his abuse to Fr Muñoz told a Chilean newspaper: “We are studying what legal actions to follow, because this seems very serious.”
The allegations date from 2002 to 2018, at the same time as many victims of serial abuser Fr Fernando Karadima were coming forward. Fr Muñoz was made vice chancellor of Santiago Archdiocese in 2003 (appointed by Cardinal Francisco Javier Errázuriz) and promoted by the current archbishop, Cardinal Ezzati.
What the vaticanisti are saying
John Allen, writing at Crux, said attention was shifting “away from relatively low-hanging targets such as [Bishop Juan] Barros to bigger game” – specifically, Cardinal Ezzati and his predecessor Cardinal Errázuriz, who still sits on the Pope’s Council of Cardinals. If Francis did not act against them, he wrote, perception of his role in the crisis would go from being seen as slow to act to something “more sinister”.
But Allen said the judgment of the Pope may be the least of the cardinals’ problems. The bigger threat may be Emiliano Arias, the regional prosecutor. “A hard-charging crusader who came to fame leading a series of anti-corruption probes in Chile, and who once faced a death threat for his trouble, Arias has indicated that he sees the cover-up, not the abuse itself, as the next judicial frontier,” Allen wrote.
✣SSPX elects Italian as leader
What happened?
Italian priest Fr Davide Pagliarani was elected superior general of the Society of St Pius X (SSPX). Fr Pagliarani, elected for a 12-year term, succeeds Bishop Bernard Fellay, who has led the society for 24 years. The new leader is seen as being on the more conservative wing of the traditionalist Society and opposes making concessions to Rome.
Why was it under-reported
The significance of the election is a little unclear – was Bishop Fellay pushed, or did he choose to go? Jean-Marie Guénois, religion correspondent at Le Figaro, said that Bishop Fellay had been the “favourite” to win a renewed mandate but had been “toppled”. However, LifeSiteNews reported that Bishop Fellay had made it known he was not seeking re-election. Certainly, the election marks the end of an era: that of SSPX and Vatican negotiators picking over doctrinal differences and seemingly moving closer to reconciliation.
What will happen next? Le Figaro predicted that talks with the Vatican would “slow down or stagnate”. The departure of Bishop Fellay – who brought the SSPX within touching distance of reconciliation with Rome – certainly makes a historic agreement less likely. As it stands, the SSPX is probably comfortable with the status quo. Pope Francis has opened the door to bishops allowing SSPX weddings and recognised the absolution offered by its priests. In contrast, the uncertainty of a return to the fold may be seen as more trouble than it’s worth.
✣The week ahead
The US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, is hosting a major conference on religious freedom in Washington DC from Tuesday to Thursday next week. The meeting, called the Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom, brings together governments and other
parties to “identify concrete means to push back against persecution and discrimination” around the world.
The statue of Our Lady of Walsingham will be in Brentwood Cathedral today and tomorrow as part of its two-year tour of English cathedrals. The tour is intended to help prepare England for its rededication as the Dowry of Mary in 2020.
Pakistan is holding a general election on Wednesday. The frontrunning parties are the PTI, led by former cricketer Imran Khan, and the ruling party PML-N, whose star figure, Nawaz Sharif, has just been convicted of corruption. Although Khan is billed as a reformer, he has said he will “defend” Article 295c, which mandates the death penalty for blasphemy.
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