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The Chilean government's appointment of a well-known Jesuit priest to coordinate a national program on slums has provoked strong reactions in the South American country
By Sixtine Lerouge | Chile
Gabriel Boric had hardly been sworn in as Chile's new president on March 11 when an announcement from the Jesuits in the South American country immediately plunged his fledgling government into controversy.
The male religious order announced that Father Felipe Berrios SJ had been contacted by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development to "lead a new national work program in Chile's slums".
The memo about Berrios' appointment was intended only for Jesuits in Chile, but it was soon shared on social media and reported in the mainstream press.
The news was met with much criticism, even though the 65-year-old Jesuit is a well-known advocate for decent housing for all populations.
Berrios founded the association "TECHO" (also known as Un Techo para mi País) in 1997 and has lived in La Chimba, one of the poorest slums in the country, since 2014 after returning from a four-year missionary assignment in Africa.
But it's not the priest's expertise that critics have focused on.
"The reasons are deeper," explained Marcial Sánchez Gaete, a Chilean historian who specializes in the Church.
"The cases of sexual abuse committed by officials have marginalized the Chilean Catholic Church, which has lost its past credibility," he said.
Abuse cases have been known for several years, but Pope Francis's visit to Chile in 2018 revealed the institution's system of cover-up.
A dozen or more Jesuits are among those who have been implicated. They include Renato Poblete, a priest who was well respected in Chile.
Berrios, who has been a Jesuit for more than 40 years, has been criticized for keeping silent about abuse in his order.
"Many voices have been raised to say that he could have known and did not say or do anything," Sánchez pointed out.
Although Berrios is "known as an internal critic of the Church", it is the mere fact that he is a priest that causes controversy, as this is a "figure that has lost prestige and respect".
"Francis himself reproached the Chilean clergy for having installed a culture of abuse of conscience, power and sexual abuse," Sanchez said, recalling the papal visit.
"These words signaled a before and an after," he said.
Part of this has been "increasingly empty churches".
"As long as all the accomplices, active or passive, continue to be part of the Church, it will continue to die in Chile," Sanchez argued.
An appointment quickly denied
The day after the Jesuits announced Father Berrios appointment to deal with slums in Chile, the government was forced to explain itself.
The new minister of housing, Carlos Montes, told the daily newspaper La Tercera that "the idea is under review".
"It would be a supra-ministerial team, which is under discussion and which would be led by (Berrios)," Montes said.
President Gabriel Boric then told CNN Chile on March 13 that "Minister Montes had asked Felipe Berrios to be part of an advisory council on the issue of slums".
The president insisted that the priest "is not part of the government".
Boric said he "saw the concern that (this information) triggered among the victims of sexual abuse".
Father Berrios then tried to clarify the situation on March 14, saying the ministry invited him "to participate in an advisory group".
But he denied that he was "taking on a leadership role, as has been wrongly reported in recent hours".
He said he regretted that the internal letter from the Jesuits was made public before there was any discussion "on how to concretize this collaboration".
Berrios then announced that he had declined the invitation in view of "this unexpected situation".
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