Militants from the indigenous Mapuche people set fire to a church in Ercilia, Chile, on December 21.Three days later, arson destroyed a parish and school in Chamichaco, according to the Fides news agency.
Bishop Héctor Vargas Bastidas of Temuco condemned the attacks, stating that they “do not contribute to an overall solution to the problems in the area, nor of the Mapuche people, nor of the rest of civil society.”
The South American nation of 17.7 million is 67% Catholic and 16% Protestant.