I had already announced it. Some time ago Felipe Berrios del Solar He made the decision to resign from the Society of Jesus – a religious order he joined in 1977 at the age of 21 – to return to the Luz Divina camp, in the La Chimba sector of Antofagasta, and in the last few hours he made it happen. This, just as he had anticipated Third three weeks ago.
Thus, following almost half a century with the Jesuits, Berríos finally left the congregation that ordained him a priest in 1989, amid questions regarding the complaints once morest him for “acts of sexual connotation”.
And it is that as established in the previous canonical investigation entrusted to the lawyer Maria Elena Santibanez Last May, complaints weighed once morest the religious man – which the professional classified as “credible”, that is, they appear to be true – that refer to acts “of different relevance sexual significance that would have affected seven young women and adolescents” .
Berríos, in the first instance, informed his decision to his closest circle, and this week he chose to send a letter addressed to “the Jesuits”, where he emphasized that, during the process opened once morest him, the aforementioned congregation did not provide him support for. In fact, he reiterated the questions that he expressed at the time due to the “ambiguity” with which they faced the complaints once morest him and accused “abuse.”
“It pains me to tell you that I have felt mistreated by the government of the Company, which I love so much.. His ambiguous statements to the press have been damning. All this in a media process with intentional leaks that have harmed me. I understand that the Provincial has to be impartial in the face of an investigation and that he must apply the protocols, but that does not mean that he should not welcome me with some empathy, ensuring the presumption of innocence ”, he stated in part of the letter.
As he relates, the situations he has faced “has put me in a situation where I find it impossible to live Jesuit obedience. What has been imposed on me in these months – living away from my community of La Chimba – presents me with a dilemma that should never have existed. An obedience is asked of me that violates my freedom of conscience and atrophies my vocation. There should never have been this dilemma; that in order to live my vocation as a Jesuit I must renounce being a Jesuit. For seven months I have exhausted all government instances to try to reverse this dilemma. But I have always had the same and unfounded answer: I must stay in Santiago indefinitely”.
In this way, he also asserted that “deeply loving the Society of Jesus, and being grateful for all that it has given me, and very aware that thanks to it I have been able to identify with the Lord and his gospel, Out of loyalty to the same Company, I must renounce being a Jesuit.”.
Formalized the determination, which for now it is only a resignation from the Jesuits and not from the priesthood, friends began to show their affection on social networks, as was the case with Juan Pedro Pinochet, director of the Corporación Nuestra Casa. “This is how we started in 1999 and this is how we are in 2022. with successes and failures. Today my friend Felipe is leaving the Company and I will continue to accompany him. I from what I do and he from the Chimba. A great shame for the one who lives ”, wrote the public administrator.
After the determination was made public, from the Society of Jesus they confirmed that they received the letter where the priest informed them of his decision to resign, and before that, first of all, they reported: “We are very sorry for the decision you have made. We encourage you to be patient and wait for the decision that will be made in Rome.”
They also added that, as he himself was told, “to formalize his resignation, he must address this request to the Father General of the Company, indicating the reasons for it. If he also wants to request the loss of the clerical state and dispensation from celibacy, he must write to the Pope also indicating his reasons. These instances must rule on his request. As long as the above does not occur, Felipe is still a Jesuit and the canonical process continues its course.
In the same sense, they added that they have “initiated the corresponding processes, in accordance with their protocols and the requirements of the Church, which apply equally to all Jesuits who are denounced for any canonical crime, without exceptions. We hope that the canonical authorities can clarify the truth.”
“The Society of Jesus has the duty to seriously address each complaint it receives and will work with commitment to advance in truth and transparency. with each one of them”, they emphasized.
