The Congregation of the Jesuits of Chile admitted that 64 people were victims of sexual abuse

The Jesuit Congregation of Chile acknowledged in a report that 64 people were victims of sexual abuse – including 34 minors –, by 11 of his clergymen who were investigated by the Catholic order itself between 2005 and 2020.

According to the report of the Center for the prevention of abuse and reparation (CPR) of the Society of Jesus, obtained this Tuesday by the agency AFP, a total of 17 Jesuits were investigated in canonical proceedings for allegations of abuse, whose congregation credited 11 with responsibility for the sexual abuse of 34 minors and 30 adults.

“Indeed. The victims of cases in which the Company has reached the certainty of its occurrence through an internal process are recognized. The 64 victims correspond to the 11 cases, ”the Society of Jesus said on Tuesday in response to a questionnaire sent by the AFP.

Of the 11 priests, nine are responsible for “sexually abusive situations” of 34 underage victims, while five committed “sexual abuse” and “manipulation of conscience” on 30 adults., the details of the report.

Among the accused stands the name of the former deceased leader of this congregation Renato poblete, who according to this report he sexually abused four minors and 19 adults, since 1960 and for more than four decades.

In 2019, the first complaint against Poblete was received, after which the congregation apologized to the victims. Poblete, who died in 2010, was chaplain for over 20 years at Hogar de Cristo, the largest foundation helping the poor in the country.

Among the accused priests, five are dead, three are no longer part of the Society of Jesus and three others “are currently subject to strict professional supervision plans“This implies psychological assistance and restrictive measures such as the ban on approaching minors.

The congregation reported that since 2018, they have made the business context available to justice. The report further states that 31 of the victims were financially compensated.

According to the newspaper The third, in the document appear three names of religious whom it was not known publicly that they had been denounced for abuse. One of them has been identified as José Tomas Gatica, which was denounced by a minor for “various situations with a sexual connotation” which took place in 2007 in Santiago. In 2011, the accused resigned from the Society of Jesus and in 2012, from the diaconate.

The second case corresponds to the Jesuit Eduardo Tampe, whose abuses took place in 2015, in the city of Puerto Montt. His victim, of legal age, reported a “transgression of limits in the field of sexuality“. Last year the religious was suspended from his pastoral work and is currently completing a supervision plan by a professional outside the congregation.

The third case is that of the deceased Jesuit Carlos Berríos. The complaint against him was received in 2018 by a victim, a minor at the time of the facts. According to what is detailed in the report, he suffered from “abusive situations with a sexual connotation” during the 1970s.

Chilean Church has been implicated in abuse allegations since influential priest Fernando Karadima He was denounced and a year later convicted by the Vatican as guilty of sexual abuse of minors.

With information from AFP and La Tercera

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