Chile probing reports that priest stole babies for adoption UPDATED

“Chile’s child welfare service is investigating reports that a Catholic priest was involved in giving babies up for adoption in the 1970s and 1980s without their parents’ knowledge, telling the biological mothers that their child had died.

Chilean investigative journalism center Ciper published a report last month saying that an unknown number of babies who were born to unmarried mothers were illegally given to other families. In some cases, the women were persuaded it was the best choice for them, but in others they were told the baby had died soon after childbirth, the report said.
The cases took place during the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet. In neighboring Argentina, there are hundreds of documented cases of babies being taken away from imprisoned mothers who were considered subversives by the state during the military dictatorship’s ‘dirty war’ in the 1970s.
However, in Chile’s traditional Catholic society, the babies were removed from women from middle-class families not for overtly political reasons but because of the stigma attached to unmarried mothers at the time.

The priest at the center of the scandal, Gerardo Joannon, has denied any wrongdoing, saying in an interview with Ciper that he had been working with doctors to try to prevent backstreet abortions. Chile remains today one of the few countries in the world where abortion is illegal in all cases.

“In those days, a girl who was a single mother was looked on very badly,” he said, adding that he had “helped in around four or five cases, I don’t remember.”

His exact role remains unclear and he has said he will not take part in any investigation into what happened. He has not been charged with any crime.

One person identified in the report was Andres Rillon, who said his daughter was given up for adoption after he and the child’s mother were told she was dead. Rillon’s sister, Maria Elvira Rillon, said that Joannon celebrated mass in memory of the supposedly deceased infant, a claim denied by the priest.

“I didn’t have any relationship with any parent,” said Joannon in an interview with Chile’s Channel 13. “I didn’t know who the parents were…the only thing I did was to put the person with problems in contact with a doctor involved in locating families that wanted to have a child.”

The country’s child adoption and welfare department Sename said this week that eight new cases had come to light, mainly people in their thirties who knew they were adopted and suspected something “irregular” about the way it had taken place. It said it was requesting a dedicated investigator.

“I again repeat to the priest Joannon, the doctors and those who have information that they tell the authorities what they know. We have to know the truth,” said Marcela Labrana, the head of Sename.”

Chile probing reports that priest stole babies for adoption[Chicago Tribune 5/16/14 by Reuters/Rosalba  O’Brien]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

 

Update:””Chile’s Catholic church confirmed on Tuesday that a priest was instrumental in the forced adoption of at least two babies without the knowledge of their mothers, and had also maintained an “inappropriate relationship” with one mother.

Gerardo Joannon is being investigated judicially for illegally handing over an undetermined number of babies for adoption in the 1970s and 1980s, born to single mothers who were told the infants had died.

The priest has said the babies were removed mainly from middle-class women due to the stigma attached to unmarried mothers at that time in Chile’s Catholic society.

“The preliminary investigation has established the truth of the accusations…he always knew that both babies did not die,” said Alex Vigueras, a regional church head who is in charge of the probe into Joannon.

The priest even led masses for the supposedly dead children who he knew to still be living, Vigueras said. 

He added that Joannon had also maintained an “inappropriate relation” with the mother of one of the adopted babies, without giving further details.

Vigueras said Joannon will travel to Spain for “reflection” but would not be punished by the church as too much time had passed since the events in question.

Public prosecutors are continuing to investigate, and the country’s child welfare service has said that it has passed on information relating to at least eight cases.”

Chile Catholic Church Confirms Priest Stole Babies for Adoption[NDTV 8/13/14 by Reuters]

Update 2:”A Catholic priest in Chile who was instrumental in taking babies from their mothers for adoption by others in the 1970s and 1980s will not face prosecution, after a court ruled that too much time had passed since the events in question.

Last year, an internal probe by the church found that Gerardo Joannon handed over at least two babies for adoption, telling the mothers that their babies had died and even holding funeral masses for them.

But Judge Mario Carroza dismissed the judicial case on Tuesday, saying that the deadline had passed for a prosecution to be made on the charges brought.

Joannon, now in his seventies, has said that his actions were due to the stigma attached to unmarried mothers at that time, rather than overtly political reasons. The events took place during the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet, an era of state-sponsored disappearances and assassinations that still casts a dark shadow over Chilean society.

The church, which also found that Joannon had maintained an “inappropriate relationship” with one of the mothers, has said it will not punish him, again because it said too much time has passed. ”

Chile priest who took babies for adoption will not be prosecuted[Zee News 2/19/15]

Update 3:“A priest at the center of an illegal baby adoption scam in Chile has been moved out of the country and faces no charges, even after admitting he participated in at least two illegal adoptions.

The Rev. Gerardo Joannon, who belongs to the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts order, has been relocated to a house for priests in the city of Merlo, Argentina.

The transfer is supposed to be “an act of religious obedience” and a time to pray and serve penance, according to a statement issued by the order. The statement does not give a reason for his penance.

Joannon, who is in his late 70s, publicly admitted last year that he had facilitated illegal adoptions during the 1970s and ’80s.

According to the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts order and Chilean authorities, the priest took at least two babies from their biological mothers, either through lies or coercion, and in secret gave them to adoptive families.

Mario Carroza, a prosecutor who investigated the case, said upper-class families would approach Joannon after learning an unmarried daughter was pregnant. He said the priest would then conspire with doctors, nurses, nuns and others to deliver the baby, which would then be raised by the adoptive parents.

“We’re talking about crimes like kidnapping, of course, because the baby was taken from the mother without her consent or knowledge; falsification of identity, because the baby was made to appear as a biological child of a different couple, and falsification of documents,” Carroza said.

Carroza, though, has ruled the statute of limitations has run out, and that the priest could no longer be prosecuted, angering those still looking for biological parents and children.

The ruling has also puzzled many Chileans who are also questioning the decision to send the priest to Argentina.

CNN tried to get a more elaborate answer from the order, but an interview request was declined. At the house where the priest used to live, another priest hung up the intercom after being asked about Joannon.

The leader of the order, the Rev. Alex Vigueras, was also not answering questions when he arrived at his home. He said “we’re not giving any interviews” and quickly drove in and closed the gate.

The Congregation of the Sacred Hearts order conducted an internal investigation last year into the allegations and sent its findings to the Vatican. The Holy See later determined that even though the priest had made ethical and moral mistakes, none of his actions had risen to the level of a violation of canon law.

Carroza, the prosecutor who handled the case, said the investigation is still open and, as more cases surface, he is hoping there will be a case he can prosecute.

Joannon’s attorney, Eduardo Novoa, said the crimes his client is accused of were not even on the books until 1988.

“My client, as priest, knew families and would approach them with the intention of giving them support and guidance when unexpected pregnancies occurred,” he said.

“In some cases, the grandparents or parents of a young, pregnant woman considered the pregnancy unacceptable and would seek to give the baby away so that another family would raise him as their child.”

Chilean authorities said Joannon is only one of many priests, nuns, doctors, nurses and others who conspired to carry out illegal adoptions during the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet between 1973 and 1990.

The number of stolen children, officials interviewed by CNN said, could be in the thousands. In Chile, they’re known as the “Children of Silence.”

Constanza del Río, 42, a Santiago graphic designer, is looking for her biological parents. Her adoptive parents told her they picked her up as a newborn in a Santiago clinic. The Carolina Freire Clinic shut down many years ago and the building is abandoned and in ruins.

Del Río said she feels like a part of her will be missing until she finds her biological mother and the truth about her past.

“I don’t want to change my name or change my family. I just want to know who she was and how this happened,” del Río said.

With the support of her husband, del Río launched a website last year to help connect the “Children of Silence” with their biological parents.

But the process has been frustrating, del Río said. They’re struggling for money to create a DNA database that would help the process of reconnecting families. They also feel the government is dragging its feet.

They feel a successful prosecution against Joannon would have opened the door for other cases. The ruling against moving forward with the case was a big disappointment, they said.

Some of those responsible for the adoptions, from doctors to priests and nurses, have died over the years.

With Joannon now in Argentina, many of the families caught in the scandal fear they may never get justice or the truth about the children of silence.”

Priest in ‘Children of Silence’ adoption scam leaves Chile [CNN 7/28/15 by Rafael Romo]

Update 4: A petition to prosecute has been made. See it http://forcechange.com/145703/prosecute-priest-for-alleged-illegal-adoption-scam/.