Italian Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Secretary of State under Popes John Paul II and Benedict XV, as well as the Apostolic Nuncio in Chile during the years of dictatorship and accused of covering up sexual abusedied Friday night in Rome at the age of 94.

The Cardinal, that is He was one of the most powerful men in the Vaticanhas long been hospitalized in a Roman clinic due to complications after contracting covid-19, Vatican media confirmed.

Pope Francis recalled the “respected man of the Church, who lived his priesthood generously (…) in service to the Holy See,” in a telegram sent to the family and published by the Vatican.

Born in Isola d’Asti, in the region of Piedmont (northern Italy) on November 23, 1927, he was Secretary of State from 1991 under John Paul II until September 15, 2006, when Benedict XVI accepted his resignation while in December 21, 2019 he resigned as dean of the College of Cardinals.

Before becoming Secretary of State, Sudan had an intense diplomatic career with positions in the Apostolic Nunciature in Ecuador and later in Uruguay. In 1968 he returned to Rome, called by then Secretary of State Agostino Casaroli to deal with Holy See relations with European states.

Links to Augusto Pinochet

In 1977 he was appointed nuncio to Chile, a country under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet — who maintained a very tolerant attitude despite serious human rights violations — and he was the architect of the journey that John Paul made. II in the country in 1987.

The cardinal has been accused in Chile of covering up the abuse of minors committed by priest Fernando Karadima, with whom he has a close relationship, in addition to not reporting the victims ’complaints as well. also putting the good word to advance as bishops. the ones they covered up the case.

One of the victims of Karadima, Chilean Juan Carlos Cruz, upon hearing the news, wrote on social media that “he is a man who has done so much harm to so many people and covered up years of abuse in Chile and in the world. “

In addition, he was a strong supporter of Reverend Marcial Maciel, the late Mexican founder of Legionaries of Christ, a religious order.

Maciel’s clerical career was criticized both for his pederasty and for the sectarian -like activities he imposed on members of the order. Ultimately, an internal investigation identified 33 priests and 71 seminarians in the order who had sexually abused minors for about eight decades.

For many years, when he was Secretary of State under John Paul II, Sodano prevented the Vatican from investigating allegations of sexual abuse against Maciel. The Holy See had evidence decades ago that the founder of the religious order, an organization favored by John Paul II for making so many priests, was a drug addict and child molester.

Mediation between Chile and Argentina

Sudan is credited with successful mediation by the Vatican in 1978 between Chile and Argentina for resolving the Beagle Channel territorial dispute.

After ten years as nuncio in Chile, in 1988, he was called by John Paul II to replace Cardinal Achille Silvestini as Secretary of the then Council for Public Affairs of the Church.

A year later, the Apostolic Constitution, Pastor Bonus, began, and Sodano took the title of Secretary for Relations with States, specifically dedicating himself to the Pontifical Commission for Russia, of which he was president.

He has represented the Holy See at various international conferences such as the Ministers of Foreign Affairs conferences of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe.

In December 1990, he took the position of Pro-Secretary of State and became Secretary of State on June 29, 1991, a day after he was named Cardinal.

Accompanied Wojtyla on 54 international trips and remained in office for a year after the election of Benedict XVI in 2005, to become dean of the college of cardinals for several years.

In 2010, the Archbishop of Vienna, Christoph Schönborn, accused Sudan of hurting victims of sexual abuse and of cover -up during the investigation into crimes committed by the then head of the Viennese diocese, Hans Hermann Groër.

Source: AFP, EFE and AP

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