Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rome (Fides Service). “Chile has become a major transit point for cocaine destined for Europe. The problem, little known in the rest of the world, is the cause of growing concern.”. This alarming statement was made by Bishop Luigi Infanti Della Mora, OSM, Vicar Apostolic of Aysén, in Patagonia. The Bishop is in Rome taking part in the Seminar organised by the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples for recently appointed Bishops in mission territories.
Italian born Bishop Infanti Della Mora was sent on mission to Chile. “I spent nine years in Bolivia and was moved to Chile 11 August 1973 exactly one month after a military coup” the Bishop told Fides.
Bishop Infanti Della Mora described the present situation in Chile: “At last democracy seems to have taken root. From the point of view of the economy this country is better off than its neighbours. However there is still a problem of unequal distribution of resources which we hope will be soon set right with peaceful methods”.
One of the problems which he faces as a Bishop is drug-trafficking which is corroding the whole of society. “Little is said of this in the rest of the world, but in Chile drug trafficking has taken deep root. Chile serves as a transit point for cocaine produced in other south American countries and sent to Spain and from there all over Europe. Chile is one of the world’s main salmon producing countries and local Mafia groups hide the drug in freight loads of frozen fish exported to other countries”.
“Drug traffickers decided to use Chile as a transit point for cocaine destined for Europe when international drug control bodies stepped up inspections in the Caribbean area. Moving the drug route southwards, was a way for the drug traffickers to escape control. Increased legal exports from Chile’s industries have made it easier to hide the drugs” the Bishop said underlining that the scourge of drug trafficking is a threat for legal economy.
“It is a challenge for the Church which always has at heart the good of humanity” Bishop Infanti Della Mora told Fides. “Also my Vicariate has suffered because of drugs: 12 boys have been killed in the past four years in connection with drug trafficking. I have reported these incidents to the authorities and have called for an investigation more than once”.
“I realise it is risky to take a position and I have been threatened more than once, but as a Bishop it is my duty to speak the truth and to protect the weaker members of society” Bishop Infanti Della Mora told Fides. “When my confrere Father Faustino Gazziero was murdered in the cathedral of Santiago in August at first the circumstances seemed to indicate a cruel warning to me. However later it emerged that the assassin, who was from Aysén, was a member of a satanic group and he confessed that he wanted to kill a priest, any priest”.
“Religious sects and groups are another problem facing the Church in Chile” the Bishop told Fides. “Many think satanic groups could be connected with the drug trafficking and be used by the Mafia. What is certain that these sects are well financed. Moreover it was disquieting to find that two of the 12 boys killed in Aysén who were drug carriers, belonged to a satanic group”. Bishop Infanti Della Mora knows he is not alone in the struggle against this evil. “As the Bishop I am in the front line, but I have the whole of the local Church behind me in my efforts; priests, men and women religious and the laity. The entire community is reacting to this situaiton which threatens to damage the social tissue and undermine civil harmony”. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 11/9/2004 righe 51 parole 661)
