Ricardo_Ezzati_Andrello

Ricardo Ezzati

Ricardo Ezzati

Archbishop and cardinal

Ricardo Ezzati Andrello SDB (Spanish pronunciation: [riˈkaɾðo eˈsatjanˈdɾelo], Italian: [etˈtsaːti anˈdrɛllo]; born 7 January 1942) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who has lived and worked in Chile since the age of 17. He was Archbishop of Santiago from December 2010 to March 2019 and has been a cardinal since February 2014. He previously served as Archbishop of Concepción. He headed the Episcopal Conference of Chile from 2010 to 2016.

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Early life and education

Ricardo Ezzati was born in Campiglia dei Berici, Vicenza, Italy. He immigrated to Chile in 1959 to enter the novitiate of the Salesians in Quilpué, Valparaíso, and studied philosophy at the Catholic University of Valparaíso. He studied theology at the Pontifical Salesian University in Rome, where he obtained his licentiate.[1]

He made his final vows as a Salesian on 30 December 1966 and was ordained as a priest of the Salesian order on 18 March 1970. After his ordination he received a Licentiate in Religious Studies at the Institut de Pastoral Catéchetique in Strasbourg. He then held the title of Professor of Religion and Philosophy at the Catholic University of Valparaíso.[1]

Priesthood

As a Salesian priest he held the following positions: Director for Youth Ministry in the Salesian School in Valdivia; Director of Community for the Salesians in Concepcion, Chile; Member of the Provincial Council of the Chilean Salesians; Director of the Salesian Seminary of Santiago de Chile; and Inspector Provincial of the Salesians in Chile.

He was a member of the Faculty of Theology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile and Vice President of the Conference of Religious of Chile, participating in the General Chapters of the Salesian Congregation in 1984 and 1990.[1]

Episcopate

In 1991, he was appointed to the Roman Curia as an official of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.[2]

On 28 June 1996, Pope John Paul II appointed him Bishop of Valdivia, Chile, and he was consecrated on 8 September.[3]

Ezzati leaving his installation mass, Santiago de Chile, 14 January 2011

On 10 July 2001, Pope John Paul II appointed him Auxiliary Bishop of the much larger Archdiocese of Santiago de Chile, assigning him the titular see of La Imperial.[3] On 27 December 2006, he was named Archbishop of Concepción.[4]

In June 2009, Pope Benedict XVI named him and four other prelates to serve as Apostolic Visitors to the Legionaries of Christ following the discovery that the order's founder, Marciel Maciel Degollado, an associate of Pope John Paul II, had engaged in sexual abuse of minors and young men. Ezzati was given responsibility for investigating the order in South America:[5] Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil and Venezuela,[2] where the Legion had 20 houses, 122 priests and 122 religious seminarians.

While archbishop of Concepción, Ezzati mediated a dispute between the government and a group of 34 Mapuche prisoners who had been on a hunger strike for 82 days.[6]

On 15 December 2010, Pope Benedict appointed Ezzati as Archbishop of Santiago de Chile to replace Cardinal Francisco Errázuriz, who had submitted his resignation as required upon reaching the age of 75.[6] Ezzati was installed in Santiago de Chile on 14 January 2011.[7]

Pope Francis named Ezzati a member of the Congregation for Catholic Education in November 2013.[8]

He was elevated to the rank of cardinal at a consistory on 22 February 2014.[2] In May 2014, Pope Francis named him a member of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.[9]

In October 2014, Ezzati denied press reports that he had denounced the Jesuit priest Felipe Berríos to the Vatican and said he had only replied to inquiries about the priest's controversial statements from the papal nuncio. Press reports later demonstrated that Ezzati had initiated the accusation process to prevent Berríos from becoming chaplain at the presidential palace.[10]

He participated in the Synod of Bishops on the Family in October 2014 and October 2015.[11] He was one of the four prelates who presented the 2014 synod's summary document (the relatio).[12] He served as president of the Episcopal Conference of Chile from 2010 to 2016.[13]

In December 2016, Ezzati submitted his resignation as required upon reaching the age of 75.[14] Pope Francis did not accept it. In May 2018, Ezzati submitted it again.

On 22 March 2019, the Supreme Court of Chile rejected Ezzati's petition to stop the preliminary proceedings against him and not to bring in an accusation against him. One day later, Pope Francis accepted the submitted resignation.[15]

Karadima case scandal

In February 2011, he announced that the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, based on an investigation conducted under his predecessor, had found Fernando Karadima, a prominent priest in the archdiocese, guilty of sexually abusing minors.[16] In 2013 and 2014, he teamed with his predecessor, Cardinal Errazuriz, on a secret campaign to prevent Juan Carlos Cruz, one of Karadima's victims and accusers, from being appointed to the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors. The revelation of their email correspondence in September 2015 prompted advocates for victims of abuse to call for Ezzati's resignation.[10]

In January 2015, Pope Francis named Bishop Juan Barros Madrid to head a diocese. Barros was closely associated with Karadima and continued to defend him. Ezzati's advice that the appointment be withdrawn was not accepted.[17]

Ongoing lawsuit

On October 21, 2018, reports surfaced that Chile's Court of Appeal ordered Ezzati's office to pay 450 million Chilean pesos ($650,000) to three men who claimed that Karadima had sexually abused them for decades.[18] However, Dobra Lusic, a spokesperson for the Court of Appeal, stated that the lawsuit was still ongoing and that no verdict had been reached.[19]

Resignation amid new lawsuit

A man filed a $500,000 lawsuit against Ezzati and the Archdiocese of Santiago claiming that in 2015 he had been raped in a bedroom attached to the cathedral and that Ezzati had bribed him to keep silent.[20] On 23 March 2019, Pope Francis accepted Ezzati's resignation, presented when he turned 75.[21]

See also

References

  1. [1]
    "Ezzati Andrello Card. Ricardo, S.D.B." Holy See Press Office. Archived from the original on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 23 November 2017.
  2. [2]
    Gagliarducci, Andrea (6 March 2014). "Cardinal Ricardo Ezzati, a Salesian with a red biretta". Catholic News Agency. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  3. [3]
    "Rinunce e Nominee, 10.07.2001" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 10 July 2001. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  4. [4]
    "Rinunce e Nominee, 27.12.2006" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 27 December 2006. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  5. [5]
    Glatz, Carol (8 July 2009). "Denver's Chaput to be part of Legionaries' probe". National Catholic Reporter. Catholic News Service.
  6. [6]
    "Mapuche friendly cardinal named Archbishop of Santiago de Chile". Merco Press. 18 December 2010. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  7. [7]
    "Monseñor Ezzati toma posesión de su cargo como arzobispo de Santiago". La Tercera (in Spanish). 15 January 2011. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  8. [8]
    "Cardinals Dolan, Tagle appointed to Catholic Education". Vatican Radio. 30 November 2013. Retrieved 20 June 2017.[permanent dead link]
  9. [9]
    "Rinunce e Nominee, 22.05.2014" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 22 May 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  10. [10]
    Carmona López, Alejandra (9 September 2015). "Los correos secretos entre Ezzati y Errázuriz y el rol clave de Enrique Correa en las operaciones políticas de la Iglesia". El Mostrador (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 May 2018. Includes the full text of several email messages.
  11. [11]
    "XIV Assemblea Generale Ordinaria del Sinodo dei Vescovi (4-25 ottobre 2015) - Elenco dei Partecipanti, 15.09.2015" (Press release) (in Italian). Holy See Press Office. 15 September 2015. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  12. [12]
    McElwee, Joshua J. (13 October 2014). "Prelates: Synod document is the fruit of Vatican II spirit". National Catholic Reporter. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  13. [13]
    "Cardenal Ezzati deja la presidencia de Conferencia Episcopal". El Mostrador (in Spanish). 10 November 2016. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  14. [14]
    Sergio Rodríguez (2016-12-30). "Ezzati y su renuncia: "Hace un mes le dije al Papa que cumplía 75 y que todo está en sus manos"". La Tercera (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-06-23.
  15. [15]
    https://press.vatican.va Rinunce e nomine, 23.03.2019
  16. [16]
    Barrionuevo, Alexei; Bonnefoy, Pascale (18 February 2011). "Chilean Priest Found Guilty of Abusing Minors". New York Times. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  17. [17]
    Ivereigh, Austen (7 July 2015). "Controversial Chilean bishop's appointment continues to divide diocese". National Catholic Reporter. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  18. [18]
    Laing, Aislinn (21 October 2018). "Chilean court orders Catholic Church to pay damages over abuse: Report". Reuters.
  19. [19]
    "Chilean court denies media report of verdict in Karadima lawsuit".
  20. [20]
    "Chilean cardinal sued for alleged cover-up of rape in cathedral". Crux. 6 March 2019. Archived from the original on 17 November 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  21. [21]
    San Martín, Inés (23 March 2019). "Pope accepts resignation of Chilean cardinal facing abuse cover-up probe". Crux. Archived from the original on 23 March 2019. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
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