Ricardo Ezzati Andrello

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Ricardo Ezzati Andrello SDS, 2017
Coat of arms of Ricardo Ezzati Andrello

Ricardo Cardinal Ezzati Andrello SDB (born January 7, 1942 in Campiglia dei Berici ) is an Italian - Chilean religious and retired Archbishop of Santiago de Chile . From 2010 to 2016 he was chairman of the Chilean Bishops' Conference .

Life

Riccardo Ezzati grew up in Italy, where he attended elementary school in Campiglia dei Berici and middle and high school at the Salesian College in Penango . In 1959 he went to Chile to enter the novitiate of the religious order of the Salesians of Don Bosco , which he completed in Quilpué . Subsequently, on January 31, 1961, he made the religious vows (first profession).

This was followed by studies in philosophy, theology and pedagogy at an institute of his religious community, which is affiliated with the Catholic University of Valparaíso . From 1964 to 1966 he taught religious studies at the Liceo Camilo Ortúzar Montt , a secondary school of the Salesians in Santiago de Chile . He then continued his theology studies at the University of the Salesians in Rome , where he obtained a licentiate in Catholic theology. After studying at the University of Strasbourg , he received a master's degree in religious education .

Ricardo Ezzati Andrello was ordained a priest on March 18, 1970 . In 1971 and 1972 he worked as a pastoral representative in the Salesian Institute in Valdivia . From 1973 to 1977 he was superior of the Salesian community in Concepción and at the same time director of the Salesian college there. In 1978 he came back to Santiago. There he worked as rector of the Salesian seminary , lecturer in fundamental theology at the theological faculty of the Catholic University and head of the catechetical institute of the archdiocese and was active in the council of the religious province of his community.

On June 28, 1996, Pope John Paul II appointed him Bishop of Valdivia . He was ordained bishop on September 8, 1996 by the Archbishop of Santiago de Chile , Cardinal Carlos Oviedo Cavada ; Co- consecrators were the Bishop of Temuco , Sergio Otoniel Contreras Navia , and the then Curia Archbishop Francisco Javier Errázuriz Ossa , who shortly afterwards became Archbishop of Valparaíso and in 1998 Archbishop of Santiago de Chile - and as such Ezzati's predecessor.

On July 10, 2001, John Paul II appointed Ricardo Ezzati auxiliary bishop in Santiago de Chile and at the same time titular bishop of La Imperial . On December 27, 2006, Pope Benedict XVI called him . as Metropolitan Archbishop of Concepción , on December 15, 2010 as Archbishop of Santiago de Chile . In November 2010, Ezzati was elected chairman of the Chilean Bishops' Conference for the first time, and he held this office for two terms until 2016.

In the solemn consistory on February 22, 2014, Pope Francis accepted him as a cardinal priest with the titular church Santissimo Redentore a Valmelaina in the college of cardinals .

In the same year, there was a judicial investigation in Valdivia against Ricardo Ezzati and another former Salesian conqueror, Alonso Horn, for possible thwarting of punishment in the case of the alleged abuser Rimsky Rojas, a Salesian priest who is said to have repeatedly sexually abused members of the Salesian youth movement and committed suicide in early 2011 committed. In the pending investigation against Father Rojas since 2010 , Ezzati, then provincial superior of the Salesians of Don Bosco, and Horn, the former director of the Salesian School in Valdivia, had given no information on the matter and declared that they had no knowledge of the priest's actions Victim attorneys questioned. Ultimately, Ezzati's behavior in this case turned out to be not criminally relevant. From 2015 he was under sharp criticism of the victims of the 2011 convicted, in the church very influential abuser Fernando Karadima . They accused Cardinal Ezzati and his predecessor Francisco Javier Errázuriz of using intrigues in 2013/14 to prevent the prominent Karadima victim Juan Carlos Cruz from being accepted into the Pontifical Child Protection Commission that was established at the time. This allegation was substantiated by the publication of private e-mails, the authenticity of which the cardinals confirmed.

Cardinal Ezzati advised the Pope against the appointment of the controversial military bishop Juan Barros , a former confidante and vehement defender of Karadima, as Bishop of Osorno in 2015, but was not heard by Pope Francis. According to observers, the decisive influence in favor of the appointment of Barros Madrid on the Pope did not come from Ezzati's predecessor Errázuriz (as initially assumed), then one of the Pope's closest advisers and member of the Cardinals' Council , who denied such influence, but from the Apostolic Nuncio in Chile, Archbishop Ivo Scapolo , a foster son of the former Cardinal Secretary of State Angelo Sodano, who was friends with Karadima . Already because of his office, Scapolo was busy preparing personnel decisions for the Chilean Church and reporting on them to the Vatican. Ezzati, as a Salesian, in turn linked to Tarcisio Bertone  SDB, the Cardinal Secretary of State under Pope Benedict XVI , who was hostile to Sodano . , was unable to assert himself against Scapolo's influence in this personality, which his critics soon accused him of, even before the Chilean church crisis escalated in early 2018. After the Pope's letter to the Chilean bishops in April 2018, Scapolo was considered damaged and did not explain itself, but was not withdrawn even after the spectacular resignation of all Chilean bishops and the fall of Errázuriz and Ezzati in the scandalous year 2018/19.

After the scandal about sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church in Chile during Pope Francis' visit to Chile in January 2018 because of the controversial appearances of the Bishop of Osorno, the entire Chilean episcopate came under the direction of Ricardo Ezzati on the instructions of Pope Francis in May 2018 for a meeting of several days with the Pope in Rome, where all Chilean bishops united and offered the Pope their resignation. Since then, Ricardo Ezzati awaited the decision of the Pope on his whereabouts on the bishopric. At the traditional Te Deum in the Cathedral of Santiago de Chile in the presence of the Chilean President on Chile's National Day on September 18, 2018, Cardinal Ezzati decided not to attend and left the ceremony to his dean of the cathedral .

In July 2018, the archbishop was summoned for questioning for the first time by the public prosecutor's office in Santiago de Chile on suspicion of having hushed up sexual abuse by church representatives for years or hindered the investigation. In the same month, the arrest of Óscar Muñoz, the long-time Chancellor of the Diocesan Curia of the Archdiocese of Santiago, who was one of Cardinal Ezzati's closest collaborators and who was suspended from the priesthood after a voluntary disclosure in May , had caused a stir . The prosecutor in Rancagua accused him of at least five psychological and sexual abuse of minors between 2011 and 2012. As Vice Chancellor and Chancellor of the Archdiocese, he had also been involved in handling church investigations into cases of abuse since 2011 and, among other things, had interviewed witnesses in the Karadima case. In September 2018, the Chilean investigative authorities secured emails from Cardinals Ricardo Ezzati Andrello and Francisco Javier Errázuriz Ossa and Auxiliary Bishop Luis Fernando Ramos Pérez . After Ricardo Ezzati did not make any statements to the public prosecutor of the O'Higgins region in early October 2018 about the abuse cases uncovered in the diocese of Rancagua in the spring of 2018 , he has been investigated as a suspect in Santiago since November 2018. Cardinal Ezzati is one of the seven Chilean bishops against whom public prosecutor's investigations are pending because of various implications in the abuse affair. At the end of January 2019, the authorities rejected his request to knock down the preliminary investigation without bringing charges. At the same time, the Senate Human Rights Committee approved the revocation of Chilean citizenship, which Ezzati had received on an honorary basis, at the suggestion of members of the Christian Democratic PDC and the Social Democratic PPD , but this has yet to be confirmed by the plenary session of the National Congress and the Supreme Court. Traveled Also in January 2019 Cardinal Ezzati, together with his Auxiliary Bishop Fernando Ramos, president of the Chilean Bishops' Conference Santiago Silva Retamales , the archbishop of La Serena René Rebolledo and the Bishop of San Bernardo Juan Ignacio González to an extraordinary meeting with the Pope in Rome to To inform Francis about the progress of the management of the Chilean abuse scandal.

In March 2019, Cardinal Ezzati made his first public statement on Chilean television about the allegations made against him. They are related to the processing of the disastrous abuse case of Fernando Karadima, which is said to have been protected by Ezzati's predecessor Errázuriz, among others, as well as the church treatment of other acts of abuse that have been reported since Ezzati's assumption of office in 2011. In addition to the Muñoz case, this includes the case, which came to the public in 2012, of a well-known priest and human rights activist during the military dictatorship under Augusto Pinochet , Cristián Precht , who was forcibly transferred to lay status in September 2018 and whose ecclesiastical proceedings Ezzati is said to have pursued inconsistently. Ezzati personally is also charged with the degrading treatment of a rape victim who is said to have been drugged and abused in 2015 by the traditionalist diocesan priest Héctor "Tito" Rivera Arroyo in an adjoining room in the cathedral of Santiago de Chile. While the archbishopric did not deny the allegations against Rivera and suspended the 61-year-old from the priesthood for 14 years as a punishment in autumn 2018, Tito Rivera said in a television program in March 2019 that the man concerned, a penniless beggar, had invented the act out of greed . However, Rivera demanded his release from the priesthood. Archbishop Ezzati is said to have given the financially needy victim a small amount of hush money after his disclosure of the incident in the confessional of the cathedral, which he denies.

At the end of 2016, before his 75th birthday, Ricardo Ezzati made the mandatory resignation offer for reasons of age, but was left in office by the Pope. On March 23, 2019, Pope Francis accepted Ricardo Ezzati Andrello's repeated resignation in May 2018, after the Court of Appeal of Santiago de Chile finally rejected his motion to quash the criminal charges against him in the case of the former diocesan chancellor Óscar Muñoz Toledo the day before would have. Ezzati himself continues to claim his innocence. On December 27, 2019 , he was succeeded by the previous Bishop of Copiapó from Spain , Celestino Aós Braco OFMCap , who had already administered the Archdiocese as Apostolic Administrator since the resignation of Ricardo Ezzati .

Memberships

Cardinal Ezzati Andrello is a member of the following units of the Roman Curia :

Web links

Commons : Ricardo Ezzati Andrello  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Short biography on the website of the Chilean Bishops' Conference
  2. ^ Nomina di Ausiliari dell'arcidiocesi di Santiago de Chile (Cile). In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office , July 10, 2001, accessed February 21, 2016 (Italian).
  3. ^ Rinuncia dell'Arcivescovo Metropolita di Concepción (Cile) e Nomina del Successore. In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office, December 27, 2006, accessed February 21, 2016 (Italian).
  4. ^ Rinuncia dell'Arcivescovo Metropolita di Santiago de Chile (Cile) e Nomina del Successore. In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office, December 15, 2010, accessed February 21, 2016 (Italian).
  5. ^ Concistori ordinario pubblico per la creazione dei nuovi Cardinali: Assegnazione dei Titoli o delle Diaconie ai nuovi Porporati. In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office, February 22, 2014, accessed February 21, 2016 (Italian).
  6. ↑ Rechazan sobreseer a Ezzati ante querella por obstruir investigación sobre denuncias de abusos sexuales. In: El Mostrador. July 2, 2014, accessed March 22, 2019 (Spanish).
  7. ↑ Alejandra Carmona López: Los correos secretos entre Ezzati y Errázuriz y el rol clave de Enrique Correa en las operaciones políticas de la Iglesia. In: El Mostrador. September 9, 2015, accessed March 22, 2019 (Spanish).
  8. ↑ Chile: grave filtración de correos privados de los cardenales Ezzati y Errázuriz. In: El Mostrador. Zenit , September 11, 2015, accessed March 23, 2019 (Spanish).
  9. ↑ Austen Ivereigh: Controversial Chilean bishop's appointment continues to divide diocese. In: National Catholic Reporter . January 14, 2019, accessed on March 23, 2019 .
  10. ↑ a b Roberto Sánchez Silva: Las claves de la sucesión de Ezzati: cuatro cuerdas para un solo trompo. In: El Mostrador. November 15, 2016, accessed March 22, 2019 (Spanish).
  11. ↑ Rixio G. Portillo ( Universidad del Zulia ): Los nombres tras la polémica de los abusos de Chile. In: Domus Ecclesiae. April 20, 2018, Retrieved March 23, 2019 (Spanish).
  12. ↑ Chile: Cardinal refrains from conducting a ceremony. In: Vatican News . August 5, 2018, accessed March 12, 2019 .
  13. ↑ Roland Peters: Chile's church elite threatens the fall. In: n-tv . July 29, 2018. Retrieved July 29, 2018 .
  14. ↑ Daniela Torán: Quién es el último sacerdote acusado de abusos a menores. In: El Día , July 13, 2018, p. 4 (Spanish).
  15. ^ Abuse in Chile: Public prosecutor secures mails from cardinals. In: Vatican News. September 12, 2018, accessed March 8, 2019 .
  16. ↑ Javiera Matus: Las razones de Ezzati para no declarar en la fiscalía. In: La Tercera . November 10, 2018, accessed March 12, 2018 (Spanish).
  17. ↑ a b El Senado revoca la nacionalidad chilena al cardenal Ezzati por encubrimiento de abusos. In: eldiario.es. January 7, 2019, accessed March 12, 2019 (Spanish).
  18. ↑ The judiciary rejects the termination of proceedings against Cardinal Ezzati. In: Domradio . January 31, 2019, accessed March 12, 2019 .
  19. ↑ El papa recibe a la cúpula de obispos chilenos tras escándalo de abusos. In: El Espectador . January 14, 2019, accessed March 12, 2019 (Spanish).
  20. ^ Cardenal Ezzati por denunciante de Tito Rivera: "No lo conozco". In: TVN . March 7, 2019, accessed March 12, 2019 (Spanish).
  21. ↑ Pope puts Chilean priests into the laity. In: Church + Life . September 17, 2018, accessed March 13, 2019 .
  22. ↑ María José Navarrete: Tito Rivera: el reservado estilo del sacerdote acusado por violación en la catedral. In: La Tercera. March 4, 2019, accessed March 23, 2019 (Spanish).
  23. ↑ Abusos en la Catedral de Santiago: El impactante relato que inculpa al padre Tito Rivera. In: TVN. March 7, 2019, accessed March 12, 2019 (Spanish).
  24. ↑ Arzobispado de Santiago pide dimisión de Tito Rivera tras entrevista televisiva sobre abusos. In: Canal 13 . March 14, 2019, accessed March 23, 2019 (Spanish).
  25. ↑ Sergio Rodríguez: Ezzati y su renuncia: “Hace un mes le dije al Papa que cumplía 75 y que todo está en sus manos”. In: La Tercera. December 30, 2016, Retrieved March 23, 2019 (Spanish).
  26. ^ Fiorella Terrazas: El papa reemplaza al obispo de Santiago tras denuncias. In: La Visión. March 23, 2019, accessed March 23, 2019 (Spanish).
  27. ^ Rinuncia dell'Arcivescovo di Santiago de Chile (Cile) e nomina dell'Amministratore Apostolico "sede vacante et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis". In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office, March 23, 2019, accessed March 23, 2019 (Italian).
  28. ↑ Francis accepts the resignation of the Chilean Cardinal Ezzati. In: Kirche + Leben Katholisch.de. March 23, 2019, accessed March 23, 2019 .
  29. ^ Revés para Ricardo Ezzati: Justicia rechaza solicitud de sobreseimiento. In: Sabes. March 22, 2019, accessed March 23, 2019 (Spanish).
  30. ^ Nomina dell'Arcivescovo Metropolita di Santiago de Chile. In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office, December 27, 2019, accessed December 27, 2019 (Italian).
  31. ↑ Conferma del Prefetto e del Segretario della Congregazione per l'Educazione Cattolica e Nomine e Conferme di Membri nel medesimo Dicastero. In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office, November 30, 2013, accessed February 21, 2016 (Italian).
  32. ^ A b Nomina di Cardinali Membri dei Dicasteri e degli organismi della Curia Romana. In: Daily Bulletin. Holy See Press Office, May 22, 2014, accessed February 21, 2016 (Italian).
predecessor Office successor
Alejandro Jiménez Lafeble Bishop of Valdivia
1996-2001 		Ignacio Francisco Ducasse Medina
Antonio Moreno Casamitjana Archbishop of Concepción
2006–2010 		Fernando Natalio Chomalí Garib
Francisco Javier Errázuriz Ossa Archbishop of Santiago de Chile
2010–2019 		Celestino Aós Braco OFMCap
personal data
SURNAME Ezzati Andrello, Ricardo
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ezzati, Riccardo (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian-Chilean religious and emeritus Roman Catholic archbishop and cardinal
DATE OF BIRTH January 7, 1942
PLACE OF BIRTH Campiglia dei Berici