Chile: Pride march leaves damage to historic Santiago church

The façade of the San Francisco de Asís church and convent, a historical monument in Santiago de Chile, was the target of acts of vandalism during the weekend, within the framework of the so-called “pride” march.

With phrases such as “death to the violet priest”, “+transvestites -pakos”, “subversive marika” and “without God or master”, and various anarchist symbols, the protesters who marched this weekend in the city center purposely of “International Pride Day” damaged the walls of the building.

Fray Miguel Ángel Correa, superior priest of the San Francisco convent and legal representative of the Franciscan order of Chile, declared to the portal BioBioChile that “the National Monuments Law goes against the owners and not against those who cause the damage.”

“This must be reviewed, because just as we have suffered damage from graffiti, we have also been affected by theft and vandalism. The Franciscan order has had to pay for all the damages,” he lamented.

In dialogue with The Mercury Onlinethe Franciscan priest asked himself: “What is the preventive care of the heritage authorities during the authorizations of the marches?”

“It is not that one wants to persecute the organizations in charge, but someone has to assume responsibility. We do not know what real protection is given by the National Monuments Council (CMN) in these contexts of demonstrations,” he lamented.

The Franciscan assured that they made the complaint to the CMN, but in their previous experience, the organization took care of the cleanup. However, the concern is about “how we are going to generate real education, culture and training programs.”

The façade of the San Francisco temple, which has been a Historical Monument since 1951, is frequently the target of graffiti and damage, a situation that worsened after the social outbreak that occurred in Chile in October 2019.