Diocesan offices set on fire during mass protests in Chile

Diocesan offices were ransacked and set on fire as clashes broke out in Chile during mass street protests to mark the second anniversary of a social uprising.

Two people died, 56 were injured and 450 arrested when thousands of protesters took to the streets of Chile to mark the anniversary that sparked the re-writing of the constitution.

People on October 18 night ransacked and set fire to the official premises of the Diocese of Talca located in the central area of the country. The property housed offices such as those of the youth ministry, social action and pastoral works and the university students foundation. 

The diocesan offices were not the only ones attacked, with violent incidents registered in various cities of the country and included various public properties and a historic park. Some supermarkets were also affected by looting and arson.

There were 10,000 this year at the epicenter of most of the protests in Plaza Italia, according to the Carabineros. 

The Plaza Italia, in the center of Santiago de Chile, has been where most of the protests in Chile take place since October 18, 2019. “The only way is the example of October” has been the slogan of this day. 

"Being victims of this irrational violence helps us understand and empathize with the pain that so many people have experienced in similar circumstances in recent times. We think especially of those who have been affected," read a statement from Talca Diocese.  

"Peace and dialogue are the way to justice and development. This violence does not represent the aspirations of the vast majority of the country because it does nothing to solve the problems of Chile, especially those of the most vulnerable," it added. 

Despite the difficulties, the diocese "we will continue with renewed conviction the service of those who are most deprived of everything and the task of joyfully proclaiming the name of Jesus", read the statement, according to Fides.  

The country has been reeling under violent demonstrations since October 2019 with people protesting against rampant inequality, other injustices and a demand for greater social rights. 

Protests originally were sparked by a rise in Metro train fares but it was later reversed. 

Protesters then grew to take in wider grievances over living costs and inequality, culminating in a million people marching in the capital Santiago in 2019.

Even the current process of drafting a new Constitution, following the outcome of the plebiscite of October 25, 2020 to rewrite the country's constitution, which was drafted in 1980 under strongman president Augusto Pinochet, does not seem to have calmed down the tension. 

“In a country where there is still no consensus on the legitimacy of violence as a method to promote the structural changes that are needed – such as pensions, health and education – this new anniversary of October 18 finds Chile with multidimensional uncertainty,” reports Market Research Telecast.

Last year on October 18 protestors set fire and totally destroyed the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption, a few meters from Piazza Italia. 

A second fire was set to the Church of Saint Francis of Borgia, the institutional police chapel in the center of the capital. However, firefighters were quick to act and save the destruction of the church built in 1876 and dedicated to the Carabineros de Chile, the Chilean national police force.