Chilean diocese opens investigation of priest accused of sexual abuse

Santiago, Chile, Aug 17, 2017 / 02:47 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- After the recent passage of a bill that would allow some abortions in Chile, the country’s high court is considering whether or not the bill is a violation of the constitutional protections for unborn life.

Chile’s constitutional court began discussion Aug. 16 on the unconstitutionality petition filed by legislators of Chile Vamos, a coalition opposed to the government of President Michelle Bachelet.

Bachelet has made relaxing abortion restrictions a priority of her administration.

Abortion has been illegal in Chile for nearly 30 years. The bill would allow the procedure in cases of risk to the life of the mother, fatal congenital or genetic pathology in the unborn child, or rape. It would allow for objecting doctors to refuse to perform abortions, except in cases when the mother’s life is in danger and there are no other available physicians.

Chile Vamos’ petition against the bill maintains that it transgresses the constitution as well as penal and health regulations.

Angela Vivanco, the lawyer representing the 36 legislators before the high court, told La Tercera daily that one of the arguments presented refers to the personhood which characterizes the child in gestation, who therefore has “dignity, and merits constitutional protection.”

“There is a profound conviction by the legislators and in the constitutional history of Chile that here we are not protecting a mass of cells, but a person,” Vivanco said.

The constitutional court is hearing arguments for and against the bill Aug. 16 and 17, and is expected to hand down its decision Aug. 18.

The Chilean bishops’ conference has addressed a document to the court with five legal observations on the abortion bill.

The bishops stressed the intrinsic value of life, the duty to protect the weakest, the principle of equality and non-discrimination, and freedom of conscience and religion.

It also addressed parental rights, as under the bill a minor under the age of 14 who is seeking an abortion could obtain authorization from a legal representative of her choosing, without any parental involvement.

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Guatemala City, Guatemala, Mar 10, 2017 / 03:29 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- There is mourning in Guatemala after at least 35 girls perished in a fire at a state-run home for youth, which had attracted widespread charges of abusive conditions and mistreatment.

The Church “greatly mourns a tragedy of this kind,” Auxiliary Bishop Raúl Antonio Martínez Paredes of the Archdiocese of Guatemala told CNA.

The fire occurred March 8 at the Virgin of the Assumption Safe Home. A group of girls and teenagers rioted to protest what they alleged was physical and sexual abuse at the facilities. Authorities said that some of the children set fire to mattresses and the fire then spread to the rest of the facility.

Gloria Castro, attorney for the children, told Guatemala’s Congress that the girls who died in the fire were unable to get out because they were locked in a room, apparently as a punishment. The previous night, some 60 children escaped from the center.

The center, located in the San Antonio area of the town of San José Pinula, was created to provide protection for about 400 girls and teenagers abandoned and at risk. However, it currently houses close to 750 children, including those in trouble with the law.

Bishop Martinez Paredes said it might be possible to discover who is responsible for the incident, but he said it is most important to resolve the problems of the safe house.

“If it’s closed, what will be done with the young people who have rights and needs?” the bishop asked. “It’s almost certain that we Christians can offer some help.”

Noting the complaints that provoked the riot, the bishop voiced concern that no distinction was made between younger girls and teenagers, or between those who have committed crimes and those who have not. He said the facilities are “not appropriate” and are joined together.

The shelter “practically became a children’s prison, when the original idea was to be a home to help children at risk.” He called on authorities to fulfill their obligations to protect children and to build the proper infrastructure.

After the tragedy, the Attorney General’s Office for Human Rights reiterated that in November 2016 it recommended closing this center for failing to comply with the recommendations made in 2015, when the problems facing the children began to be known.

The Office of Human Rights for the Archdiocese of Guatemala also expressed “its deepest sorrow and solidarity” with the families of those who died and with those injured in the fire.

It said such an event is unacceptable and would have been avoided had the shelter improved the unfit conditions. The office urged that those responsible for the shelter’s condition be sanctioned, and child protection policies be adopted in line with national and international law.

Such centers must strengthen human persons and their rights, not become places of imprisonment and mistreatment, the human rights office said.

“We pray to the Lord Our God to give us and the affected families strength,” it said.

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Lima, Peru, Dec 5, 2018 / 12:58 am (ACI Prensa).- The Salesian founder of Operation Mato Grosso, a ministry of service and job training for low-income people in South America, died December 3 at the age of 94.

Fr. Ugo de Censi had been bedridden for s… […]