Chile court orders Catholic Church to compensate victims

FILE - In this May 2, 2018 file photo, Juan Carlos Cruz, from left, James Hamilton and Jose Andres Murillo, attend a press conference at the Foreign Press Association in Rome, after spending five days with Pope Francis at his Vatican hotel. A court in Chile ruled Wednesday, March 29, 2019, that the Roman Catholic Church must pay compensation to the three, victims of the Rev. Fernando Karadima, the country’s most notorious pedophile priest. (AP Photo/Domenico Stinellis, File)

FILE - In this Nov. 11, 2015 file photo, Rev. Fernando Karadima sits in court before testifying in a case that three of his victims brought against the country's Catholic Church in Santiago, Chile. A court in Chile ruled Wednesday, March 29, 2019, that the Roman Catholic Church must pay compensation to Juan Carlos Cruz, Jose Andres Murillo and James Hamilton, three victims of Karadima, the country’s most notorious pedophile priest. (AP Photo/Luis Hidalgo, File)

SANTIAGO, Chile – An appeals court in Chile has ruled that the Roman Catholic Church must pay compensation to three victims of the Rev. Fernando Karadima, the country's most notorious pedophile priest.

The court in the Chilean capital said Wednesday that the church must pay about $150,000 each to Juan Carlos Cruz, Jose Andres Murillo and James Hamilton.

It overturned a lower-court ruling that found no proof of a church cover-up.

The Vatican sanctioned Karadima in 2011 by ordering him to a life of "penitence and prayer" and Pope Francis defrocked him last year.

The pope initially dismissed allegations a bishop had covered up Karadima's crimes, but later acknowledged "grave errors in judgment" and asked all active Chilean bishops to offer their resignations.