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The Vatican Opts for Impunity
SOURCE: http://www.remember-chile.org.uk/declarations/romero.htm
DATE: 22 de febrero de 1999
The blood of your brother calls to me from the earth (Genesis 4,10)
For Chilean Christians it is no novelty that Cardinal Angelo Sodano had
undertaken "diplomatic dealings" and put forward "humanitarian reasons" in
favour of the Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet. Pinochet has been accused of
serious crimes against humanity, summoned by the National Audience in Spain and
is presently being judged by the Law Lords in Britain.
Sodano, having been the Apostolic Nuncio in Chile during the most bloody and
repressive epoch of the military regime, cultivated an intimate friendship with
the dictator. For this purpose he always kept a complicit silence during the
persecution of the Catholic Church for its commitment to the defence and
promotion of human rights. He never raised his voice for "clemency" or argued
"humanitarian reasons" for the thousands of Christians that from the very day of
the coup d'etat were arrested, exiled, tortured, executed or disappeared. On the
contrary, he always tried to belittle the heroic work of the Vicariate of
Solidarity, created by the Pastor of the Poor, Cardinal Raúl Silva Henríquez.
Our pilgrim and missionary Church that, during 17 years of the brutal
dictatorship was "the voice of the voiceless" and refuge for the persecuted and
tortured, was criticised and disqualified at various opportunities by the then
Nuncio Sodano. At that time and place, he did nothing. On the contrary, he more
or less endorsed the violent expulsion of Fathers Pierre Dubois, Daniel
Carouedde and Jaime Lancelot from La Victoria Población, carried out by the
repressive forces. This was at a time when there was a growing tide of popular
protest against the military dictatorship that was rooted in power through blood
and fire.
During the visit to Chile of Pope John Paul II, Nuncio Sodano tried to avoid at
all cost that Carmen Gloria Quintana - a young woman burnt alive by a military
patrol - should give her testimony and prove the criminal mentality that drove
the supporters of the military dictatorship. He also insisted, and not for
reasons of protocol, that the Pope and Pinochet would appear at the balcony of
La Moneda - the presidential palace that the dictator had bombarded on the 11th
of September 1973.
There were so many instances of these disqualifications and intrigues of Sodano
against the grassroots Church, the Church of the Poor, that in September 1986 a
large group of lay people, priests and nuns from the popular sectors asked the
President of the Episcopal Conference to declare the wayward Nuncio in Chile
persona non grata. They stated: "We ask for the change of the present nuncio
accredited by the Holy See. For a long time now, numerous communities have been
demanding this change. Hundreds of priests and nuns have also asked for this.
The people know of his "reports" to Rome and of his excessive attachment to the
military regime. Also well known are his biased criteria in recommending the
appointment of new bishops. In the offices of the nuncio "black lists" operate,
there are rewards for services rendered, people seeking promotion, people
falling in and out of favour. Speaking frankly, we do not want this nuncio
because of his open affinity with the present military dictatorship. We do not
see in him diplomacy, but rather complicity." (Juan Pablo II Document and the
People of Chile, Santiago, September 1986).
At present, clothed as the Vatican Secretary of State, he assumes the sad and
unacceptable role of supporting the dictator Pinochet whose defence could not
deny the serious charges made against him; he is ultimately responsible for
crimes such as international terrorism and torture. This support is a true slap
in the face for the defenders of human rights all over the world, for the
thousands of victims of military repression, and for the families who are
calling for something so fundamental - and consecrated in the Gospel and the
Vatican Council II - as the demand for justice for the crimes and torture
perpetrated. This obviously produces grief and confusion among Christians and
people of goodwill who are fighting for justice all over the world.
In this context of diplomatic manoeuvring at the highest level coming from the
Vatican, it would be interesting to know the opinion of the rest of the Curia in
relation to the continuing silence about the brutal assassination of six priests
by Pinochet's dictatorship. Furthermore, if, for Christians, martyrdom is a gift
of God that has been part of the history of the Church since Saint Stephen's
sacrifice, we should not forget the sacrifice of our six brothers who gave their
lives for the cause of justice and freedom. This was the evangelical praxis of
Father Joan Alsina, Miguel Woodward, Antonio Llidó, Omar Venturelli, Gerardo
Poblete and André Jarlan.
Monsignor Sodano, today we are telling you, from our Christian conscience which
is based on our love for the Church, to acknowledge that just as Jesus Christ
suffered under the power of Pontius Pilate, the Holy See should proclaim to the
world that our six priests also suffered martyrdom under the power of Augusto
Pinochet.
Alas for those who devise wickedness and evil deeds on their beds, when the
morning downs, they perform it because it is in their power! (Prophet Micah 2,
1)
Monsignor Romero Committee, Chile - Movement Somos Iglesia
Santiago, Chile, 22nd February 1999
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