Catholic Church Faces Reckoning in Chile as Sex Abuse Scandal Widens

Source: The New York Times

By Pascale Bonnefoy

SANTIAGO, Chile — The 20 men and women rose quietly from their pews during Mass at the Cathedral of Santiago one day last week, unfurled a banner and held up signs. “All Bishops Resign,” one read.

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Looking back from the altar was Cardinal Ricardo Ezzati, the archbishop of Santiago and a focal point in a growing reckoning over allegations that leaders of the Catholic Church in Chile repeatedly covered up the sexual abuse of minors by priests.

After Pope Francis this spring acknowledged a “culture of abuse” in Chile and Vatican investigators found a pattern of inaction and concealment, Chilean prosecutors have stepped up their own efforts to investigate scores of church officials.

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