Chilean churches burned, looted

The bishops support the peaceful protesters, deplore the violent
Protesters burned down two Catholic churches in Chile, where rallies to celebrate the one-year anniversary of mass protests against inequality have fallen into chaos.

Church officials and media reports described the October 18 rallies in the country as peaceful, but riots broke out at the end of the day, with some protesters entering and vandalizing parishes in Santiago, the national capital.

Videos posted on social media showed the spire of the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption in Santiago burning, then crashing to the ground as a nearby crowd cheers.

The church of San Francesco Borgia was also vandalized and religious items were stolen, a church official said. The parish hosts institutional ceremonies for the "Carabineros", Chile's national police, an unpopular force among protesters accused of using repressive tactics, including 345 eye injuries from the use of shot from riot weapons, according to a UN relationship.

"These recent events in Santiago and other cities in Chile show that there are no limits to those that exacerbate violence," the Chilean bishops' conference said in a statement on 18 October.

“These violent groups contrast with many others who have demonstrated peacefully. The overwhelming majority of Chile want justice and effective measures to help overcome inequality. They no longer want corruption or abuse; they expect dignified, respectful and fair treatment ”.

Archbishop Celestino Aós Braco of Santiago called for an end to the violence on October 18, calling it evil and saying: “We cannot justify the unjustifiable”.

Chile erupted in protests in October 2019 after a hike in metro fares in the city of Santiago. But the small rate hike belied a much deeper dissatisfaction with the country's economic inequality, which had been promoted in recent decades as a successful development story with pro-market policies.

The Chileans will go to the polls on 25 October with a referendum on the opportunity to rewrite the constitution of the nation, drawn up during the 1973-1990 regime of General Augusto Pinochet.

Many of the protests have called for the constitution to be rewritten; the bishops encouraged the participation of citizens in the demonstrations.

"Citizenship that wants justice, honesty, overcoming inequalities and opportunities to be able to raise itself as a country will not be intimidated by threats of violence and will fulfill its civic duty", said the bishops.

“In democracies, we express ourselves with free votes of conscience, not with the pressures of terror and force”.

The assault of two parishes comes as the Chilean Catholic Church suffers the consequences of allegations of sexual abuse of the clergy and the improper response of the hierarchy to such crimes. A January poll by polling company Cadem found that 75 percent of respondents disapprove of church performance.