Chilean cardinal goes before prosecutor in sex abuse probe

A prosecutor in Chile is questioning the archbishop of Santiago about allegedly covering up years of child sex abuse committed by clerics and officials of the country’s Catholic Church.

Television images showed Cardinal Ricardo Ezzati arriving to the prosecutor’s office Wednesday in the city of Rancagua.

It is not clear if he will testify as a defendant about his alleged role in the cover-up of years of abuse by his top deputy, the Rev. Oscar Munoz.

Chile’s clerical sex abuse scandal was unleashed earlier this year when Pope Francis repeatedly discredited victims of the Rev. Fernando Karadima, the country’s most notorious predator priest.

Francis eventually recognized “grave errors in judgment.” He secured offers of resignation from every active member of Chile’s bishops’ conference and defrocked Karadima.