VATICAN (CNS): Pope Francis named archbishops for the archdioceses of Santiago and Puerto Montt as he began the process of restoring normal governance to the dioceses of Chile in the wake of a massive clerical sexual abuse and cover-up scandal.
In May 2018 every bishop in Chile offered his resignation to the pope after a three-day meeting at the Vatican to discuss the abuse scandal and cover up.
By March 2019, Pope Francis had accepted the resignations of eight of the bishops leading one of the country’s 27 dioceses or other Church jurisdictions.
Embattled Ricardo Cardinal Ezzati of Santiago, was the last to step down. The pope named 74-year-old Bishop Celestino Aos Braco of Copiapo, as administrator of the archdiocese in March and named him archbishop on December 27.
A the same time, Pope Francis named former Auxiliary Bishop Luis Fernando Ramos Perez of Santiago, as archbishop of Puerto Montt. The new archbishop, who turns 61-years-old on January 2, had been apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Rancagua since June 2018.
In October, Pope Francis named Archbishop Alberto Ortega Martin pf Spain, as the new apostolic nuncio to Chile.
With the Diocese of Copiapo now vacant, the December appointments leave eight Chilean dioceses headed by apostolic administrators.
In July, Reuters reported that Chilean government officials said they were investigating more than 150 cases of sexual abuse or cover-up in the Church. Among those being investigated for possible cover-up are senior members of the clergy, including the past two archbishops of Santiago: Cardinal Ezzati and Francisco Javier Cardinal Errazuriz Ossa.
