Vatican asked to investigate Chilean priest sex abuse accusations

Santiago, Chile (CNN) -- The archbishop of Santiago has asked the Vatican to investigate a priest accused of sexually abusing four minors, a church official said.

Archbishop Francisco Javier Errazuriz decided to ask the Vatican to intercede after learning of the grave accusations against the Rev. Fernando Karadima, the church official said in a statement broadcast Friday on CNN Chile, CNN's partner network in the nation, and on the Chilean church's website.

"The strong accusations, their painful airing on television, the scandal they have provoked and the investigative process have produced in our community sentiments of suffering, disorder and lack of faith," Errazuriz said.

The archbishop also asked the Vatican to lift the statute of limitations on any possible infractions because some of the accusations date back many years, Errazuriz said.

Karadima has denied the accusations and said he welcomes the investigation, published reports said.

(Read the full report at CNN)

Chilean Bishops Apologize

Chile's Catholic Church apologizes for child abuse

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - The Roman Catholic Church in Chile on Tuesday said there had been 20 confirmed or alleged cases of child abuse by priests, and asked for forgiveness from the victims.

Monsignor Alejandro Goic, head of Chile's bishops' conference, said that in five of the cases sentences had been imposed, in another five trials were still under way, and in 10 others priests had been absolved or results were pending.

The wider Catholic Church has been buffeted in recent years by scandals involving sexual abuse of children -- most of them boys -- by priests. There also have been allegations of cover-ups and even suggestions that Pope Benedict mishandled cases when he was a bishop in Germany and a Vatican official before his election in 2005.

"There is no place in the priesthood for those who abuse minors, and there is nothing that can justify this crime," Goic said, reading a statement after an assembly of Chile's Episcopal Conference.

(Read the full report) 

Chilean Priest Facing Criminal Charges

Chile priest charged with abusing daughter, others

SANTIAGO, Chile — A Chilean priest has been charged with eight cases of sexually abusing minors, including his own daughter, and his diocese says he was suspended from his duties in the Roman Catholic Church early this year.

Ricardo Munoz Quinteros, 55, is accused of paying young girls for sex. State television broadcast video Tuesday night that it said shows the priest entering a motel with a young girl he paid for her services.

Prosecutors in Curacavi, on the outskirts of Santiago, formally charged Munoz on Tuesday with crimes dating back five years, expanding the initial sex abuse charges for which he was jailed in January.

Prosecutor Cristian Caceres said investigators are looking at whether the diocese tried to cover up for Munoz's activities, noting a series of transfers of the priest among four parishes in a few years, according to Radio Bio-Bio.

According to the charges, the priest abused girls between 16 and 18 years old, as well as his own daughter who was 5 years old at the time.

(Read the full report)