“Good morning Holy Father. It's an honor to deliver the letters that accredit me as your ambassador in Chile.”
Octavio Errázuriz is the new ambassador of Chile to the Holy See. He is an official with a great diplomatic career. He was the ambassador in the United States, China and the UN. He came to the Vatican accompanied by his family, on the eve of his country's National celebration.
The new ambassador will be in charge of maintaining contact between Chile's government and the Vatican in an especially intense period for the Church in Chile.
The sexual abuse scandals and the mistakes of the bishops in dealing with them have occupied a large part of Pope Francis' time in 2018. In May, all the bishops placed their positions at the disposal of the pope, in the wake of this crisis. Pope Francis accepted the resignation of five of those bishops.
Additionally, on September 12, the archbishop of Santiago de Chile communicated the expulsion of Fr. Cristián Precht Bañados from the clerical state. It is the first sentence of this kind issued since the meeting of the pope with the prelates in the country.
