Chilean cardinal sued for alleged cover-up of rape in cathedral
Mar 6, 2019
ROME BUREAU CHIEF
ROME - Cardinal Ricardo Ezzati of Santiago, Chile, and the archdiocese he leads are being sued for $500,000 for covering up a case of rape that allegedly took place in a bedroom of the local cathedral.
The accused priest was said to have a “practically out of control” homosexual lifestyle and faces allegations of abusing at least one minor. He was suspended from ministry in 2016.
A 2015 preliminary report from the church of Santiago established that Father Tito Rivera had a “habitual homosexual behavior, seriously immoral and practically out of control.” . . .
. . . He tried to get psychological help from the Church, but said he had doors closed in his face, with priests accusing him of lying, and ever since has been living on the streets.
In 2016, . . . The cardinal reportedly gave him a hug, told him to pray for Rivera, and had another priest give him the equivalent of $50.
. . . a preliminary investigation by the Church in 2015, . . . determined in July of that year that the testimony of Rojas was “credible,” and that his wasn’t the only complaint against Rivera.
One of Rivera’s altar boys . . . presented photos and videos of the priest having sex with eight other men, one of them a minor, in the bedrooms located on the second floor of the cathedral. . .
. . . Soto is the former chancellor of the Archdiocese. . .
. . . the church first received an email against Rivera in 2011 for abuse of minors . . .
. . . a diocesan investigation was opened in June 2015, and that in Sept. 2016 the local church requested the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, that only deals with allegations of abuse against priests when they involve minors, for further instructions on what to do.
. . . Rivera, who confessed to having had gay relationships. Ezzati gave him a 10-year suspension from ministry. However, less than a year later he was authorized to celebrate weddings.
It’s unclear why, . . . he’s been only temporarily removed from ministry, but not from the priesthood. . . .
In 2018, he decided to go to civil authorities and sue Rivera and the archdiocese, naming Ezzati. The cardinal has been called in to testify more than once on other cases, but so far has avoided doing so. . .
. . . An association of lay people in the capital, called
Laicos de Santiago , has demanded that Ezzati be removed from his position as archbishop. He has presented his resignation to the pope twice: When he turned 75 three years ago, and again last year . . .
