By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America
SANTIAGO, Chile – Chilean Catholic Bishop and staunch human rights advocate Sergio Valech Aldunate recently passed away after battling lung cancer; he was 83 years old. Aldunate was particularly outspoken against human rights violations during the 1973-1990 Pinochet dictatorship.
Aldunate was ordained in 1953 and named a bishop by Pope Paul VI in 1973. Between 1987 and 1992, Aldunate headed the Chilean church’s Solidarity Vicariate, an institution created after Pinochet’s 1973 coup. The purpose of the Solidarity Vicariate was to speak up for the victims of the military regime.
The vicariate was eventually abolished in 1992;however, Aldunate then established and headed a foundation that conserved its archives and made them available for investigations.
The Bishop was also chosen by then-President Ricardo Lagos to lead a commission probing politically motivated detentions and torture under the Pinochet government. It is estimated that Pinochet’s regime was responsible for over 3,000 civilian deaths and 28,000 cases of torture.
There has been a tremendous outpouring of public mourning and appreciation. Former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet said that Aldunate was “the voice of the voiceless during the dark night of the dictatorship. He turned into a rights defender, and was a man who saved many lives.” Cardinal Francisco Javier Errázuriz, Archbishop of Santiago stated that “[Aldunate] was an example of simple life, very poor, not wanting anything for himself… an exemplary Chilean… He was always in the frontline for the reconciliation of his homeland.”
The online La Nacion newspaper called Aldunate “the most important figure of the cause of human rights during the military regime.”
The Bishop’s funeral was celebrated on Friday in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Santiago; the same place Aldunate was consecrated at in 1973.
For more information, please see:
Independent Catholic News – Chile Bids Farewell to Bishop Valech – 25 November 2010
Fox News Latino – Chilean Bishop who Defended Human Rights Dies – 24 November 2010
Latin American Herald Tribune – Chilean Bishop who Defended Human Rights Dies – 24 November 2010
