A Santiago appeals court on
Wednesday ordered the Chilean catholic Church to pay damages of
150,000 dollars each to three sex-abuse victims of predator
priest Fernando Karadima.
The three are James Hamilton, Juan Carlos Cruz and José
Andrés Murillo.
On September 28 Pope Francis defrocked Karadima.
In February 2011, after several years of a Catholic canonical
investigation, the Vatican found Karadima guilty of sexually
abusing minors and psychological abuse in Chile.
The case sparked a wider child-sex-abuse scandal that the
Chilean Church has yet to fully recover from.
Many of the local faithful are still furious over a 2015
decision by Pope Francis to appoint Osorno Bishop Juan Barros,
who had been one of Karadima's proteges.
Francis caused an outcry during his visit to Chile in January
last year when he defended Barros, who is accused of protecting
Karadima despite having witnessed the abuse, saying there was no
proof.
The pope subsequently admitted to making "serious mistakes"
over child sex abuse by members of the clergy in Chile and
accepted Barros's resignation in June.
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