SANTIAGO, Chile: Chilean church authorities say Pope Francis has ordered a man accused of sexually abusing minors removed from the priesthood.
The Santiago archbishop’s office said Saturday the decision cannot be appealed.
Cristian Precht already had earlier been suspended from priestly duties for five years after an investigation into similar allegations. He is now in his late 70s.
Precht headed the Chilean church’s office in defense of human rights in the 1970s during part of the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet.
Chilean authorities last month raided the headquarters of the country’s bishop’s conference as part of a widespread investigation into sex abuse committed by members of the Marist Brothers order.
The pope earlier ordered an investigation and denounced a “culture of abuse and cover-up” in Chile’s Catholic Church.
Vatican expels Chilean priest accused of sexual abuse
Vatican expels Chilean priest accused of sexual abuse
- Cristian Precht already had earlier been suspended from priestly duties for five years after an investigation into similar allegations.
UK defense minister suggests Putin’s ‘hidden hand’ behind Iran tactics
LONDON: UK Defense Minister John Healey suggested on Thursday that Russia was influencing Iran’s use of drone attacks in its war with the United States and Israel.
Healey said Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “hidden hand” may be behind some of the tactics deployed by Tehran in the Middle East conflict, which started when the United States and Israel struck Iran on February 28.
He told reporters that officials were analyzing an Iranian-made drone that hit the UK’s Akrotiri air force base in Cyprus on March 1 “for any evidence of Russian or any other foreign components and parts.”
“We will update you and appropriately publish any findings from that when we’ve got them,” he said during a visit to Britain’s military headquarters in Northwood, near London.
“But I think no one will be surprised to believe that Putin’s hidden hand is behind some of the Iranian tactics, potentially some of their capabilities as well, not least because one world leader that is benefiting from the sky high oil prices at the moment is Putin,” he added.
Russia is a close ally of Iran, with the two agreeing last year to help each other counter “common threats.”
US President Donald Trump said Saturday he had no indication Russia was supporting Iran in the war, but that if they were, it was not “helping much.”
Nick Perry, the British military’s chief of joint operations, told Healey there were “definitively” signs of a link between Russia and Iran, including Iran’s use of drones “as learned from the Russians.”
No one was injured when the drone hit a hangar at Akrotiri. British warplanes shot down a further two drones heading for the base the same day.
Guy Foden, a brigadier in the British army, briefed Healey that UK troops based at a military base housing international coalition troops in Irbil, Iraq, had helped shoot down two Iranian drones on Wednesday.
