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The letter Alejandro Goic wrote to the Archbishop of Santiago, Ricardo Ezzati, inflamed a new witness for badual abuse claimants in the Church, including a paragraph: "Yesterday , we did not have the conscience of today … We kept silent about these juvenile abuses, we said that they were human weaknesses, we have moved to other places for priests. Today, it 's over, thank goodness. We are aware that not only a serious sin, but also a crime before the civil law. Nobody can today keep silent abuses of minors. "
The letter not only warned of the tension that was generated in the hierarchy of cases of church abuse by religious within the institution, but also advanced a track that followed the prosecutor Emiliano Arias: the possibility to designate responsible for a concealment device that has worked for years and from which Ezzati could respond by declaring himself in court.Therefore, some seemed surprised when Yesterday morning came to the Archbishopric of Santiago a convocation of the Attorney General of Rancagua, for the Cardinal to declare August 21 as accused, precisely for concealment.
Knowing the news, the Archdiocese of Santiago has issued a statement with a more humble tone than the one used by Ezzati in recent weeks, when he accused a climate of "slander" against the church.The text says that he never hid or "hampered justice. "
The figure of Cardinal Ezzati has generated divisions within the institution since he took office as archbishop. Although before winning the Santiago race, the love and support of many clergy was appreciated, this changed the short walk. Many describe him as a "despot, locked in his ideas" and also, with little discretion when he has to fight communication battles.
When in 2012, many expected the President of the Episcopal Conference to visit Daniel Zamudio, he chose to appear in photos with Fernando Karadima. When he had dozens of opportunities to support the victims of the El Bosque priest, an explosion has always distanced his speech from a "sacred" path. For this reason, that today his figure is located in the whirlwind of the hurricane, only "responds to his own acts" because they coincide inside the "Hurricane". church.
The charges against him for concealment are not new. In 2014, the victims of the priest Rimsky Rojas denounced him for obstructing the investigation, a constant complaint because of the great openness and protection that he granted to the priests questioned on those who suffer
. If "the obstruction" has not been verified, the context it faces is very different. The church is in its worst crisis, its credibility is at its lowest, even the pope has attracted the attention of the clergy and sent special representatives, because he does not believe in the way things are studied in the Chilean church led by Ezzati. Facts such as that of "La Familia" in Rancagua, which cost Bishop Goic the exit, and the blow that represented the arrest of the former Chancellor of the Archbishopric, Óscar Muñoz, who designates the narrow circle of the cardinal, now leaves him defenseless. to a legal situation that will continue to grow like a snowball.
And it could be worse, his days at the head of Santiago are numbered, some Vaticanists point out that the delay in appointing a replacement is only due to the fact that in fact there is no no possibility of proper lists to find his successor, and if it was for the pope, Cardinal Ezzati would have left weeks ago.
According to public prosecutor's sources, in the case of Muñoz – Ezzati This has caused self-denunciation – there are precedents that would indicate that there are abuses subsequent to this self-denunciation , which would be one of the aspects that would complicate the situation of the Archbishop of Santiago. to the list of people cited to declare others, like Cardinal Francisco Javier Errázuriz, also added for camouflage.
Chances
Asked about concealment as a crime and the possibilities that are established in this particular case, the former prosecutor Carlos Gajardo points out that in the case of badual abuse this figure can be given to the extent that it meets the requirements of Article 17 of the Criminal Code. "In this particular case, I think this is perfectly possible and, of course, that it will have to be accredited in a timely manner," he said.
This article states that "those who are aware of the commission of a crime or of the acts performed to execute them, without having participated, neither as authors nor as accomplices, intervene after his execution ", for example" harbor, conceal or provide escape from the culprit ".
criminal, Jaime Winter, explains that "in Chile the concealer depends on the main crime" and that the sentence is 2 degrees less than the sentence that corresponds to the author, which means that very probably it is very weak, in case "it's been badual abuse of minors, the sentence varies from minor presidio in its maximum degree to presidential major in its minimum degree, this is of 3 years 1 day to 10 years for the author.Reba If we take two grades, there would be a minor prison in its minimum degree, it is 61 days to 541 days.If additionally it had a irreproachable past behavior, this could be in less than 61 days, "says the lawyer.
However, Winter also baderts that there is the possibility of proving "habitual concealment", a behavior that describes the final clause of Article 52 of the Penal Code, which provides for a minor prison sentence in one of its categories, from 61 days to 5 years. "Obviously the punishment may be lesser if there are several mitigating factors like irreproachable previous conduct," adds Winter, who also points out that in the case of a habitual dissimulation "since the sentence does not depend on the crime hidden, we can talk about the crime of habitual dissimulation, although the code treats it as a form of participation. "
News of the call to testify by the Attorney General of O & # 39; Higgins generated satisfaction among the victims and lay movements who gave a hard battle against the figure of Ricardo Ezzati and that even "funaron" a few days ago in the Votive Temple of Maipu, asking to "leave". The lay coordinator for Santiago, Osvaldo Aravena, says that it is a powerful, hard but hopeful sign: "Justice works as it should be. It is no longer a possibility." victims see that justice can be done. "
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