Cristián Precht Bañados (born 23 September 1940) is a Chilean Catholic former priest, known for his work during the

military dictatorship A military dictatorship, or a military regime, is a type of dictatorship in which Power (social and political), power is held by one or more military officers. Military dictatorships are led by either a single military dictator, known as a Polit ...

in defense of

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

. He was vicar of the

Vicariate of Solidarity The Vicariate of Solidarity () was a human rights organization in Chile during the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. A Catholic organisation, it was created by Pope Paul VI at the request of cardinal Raúl Silva Henríquez to replace the ...

between 1976 and 1979. In September 2018, he was laicized for his participation in cases of child sexual abuse.

Career

Precht gained national recognition in the 1980s when he served as head of the Church's Vicariate of Solidarity human rights group that challenged ex-dictator Augusto Pinochet to end the practice of

torture in Chile Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions restrict torture to ac ...

. In 1976, Precht was instrumental in the creation of APSI, a Chilean periodical opposed to the Pinochet regime which published until 1995. He was accused of molesting boys, including those who came to him for confession, while visiting facilities of the Catholic religious institute the

Marist Brothers The Marist Brothers of the Schools, commonly known as simply the Marist Brothers, is an international community of Catholic Church, Catholic religious institute of Religious brother, brothers. In 1817, Marcellin Champagnat, a Marist priest from Fr ...

, whom Chilean police have investigated regarding claims of sex abuse at many of the group's facilities. Precht was suspended from ministry between 2012 and 2017 after being convicted by the

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) is a department of the Roman Curia in charge of the religious discipline of the Catholic Church. The Dicastery is the oldest among the departments of the Roman Curia. Its seat is the Palace of t ...

. On 12 September 2018, Precht was convicted of sexually abusing minors and adults, and

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

laicized him.

References

External links

Vicaría General de Pastoral del Arzobispado de Santiago
he General Vicariate of Ministry of the Archdiocese of Santiagoat the Internet archive (in Spanish) Living people Laicized Roman Catholic priests 20th-century Chilean Roman Catholic priests Catholic priests convicted of child sexual abuse 1940 births 21st-century Chilean Roman Catholic priests {{Chile-reli-bio-stub

Career

See also

References

External links