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Pope Francis appoints two new bishops in Chile, both assigned to the diocese of Santiago, the capital. Appointments that want to mark the opening of a new era in the local church after a series of sexual scandals.
With our correspondent in Rome, Eric Sénanque
After the resignation of the Cardinal-Archbishop of Santiago Ricardo Ezzati on March 23, the Chilean capital had at its head only an apostolic administrator, but no bishop, it now has two auxiliaries.
The first, Bishop Carlos Irarrazaval, 53 years old, is for eight years pastor of the parish of the Sacred Heart in the El Bosque district of Santiago, where the priest Fernando Karadima has committed his sexual crimes. Carlos Irarrazaval has worked in recent years to restore confidence to the traumatized local Catholic community, so his appointment is particularly symbolic.
Another prelate named by Francis, Bishop Alberto Lorenzelli, a 65-year-old Argentinean religious who was superior to the Salesians in Chile from 2012 to 2018. He was until now chaplain of the Vatican gendarmerie.
These are the first episcopal appointments of Pope Francis to Chile since the resignation of all the bishops of the country a year ago, following their disastrous management of the pedophile crisis in their country.
Read also: Pedophilia in Chile: The 34 bishops who came to speak with the Pope resign