Alejandro Goić (bishop)

Pope Francis accepted his resignation on 28 June 2018.

In 2009, the Chilean Conference of Bishops, through the Goic's influence, posed the creation of a general presidential pardon for the year 2010, called the "Bicentennial Pardon". This appeal was subsequently recognized by the government. However, the possibility that military personnel convicted of violations of human rights would benefit from the pardon was ruled out by government spokesperson Carolina Tohá. The pardon was slated to take place after the 2009–2010 presidential election (that is, between mid-January and early March 2010).

In November 2009, Goic expressed concern at the emergence of same-sex couples in party political broadcasts for the presidential election of that year, particularly in advertisements for the candidates Eduardo Frei and Sebastián Piñera; the latter was criticized for this issue even within his own coalition, the conservative Independent Democrat Union.

During the first months of 2008, he served as a mediator between the government and Patricia Troncoso, a pro-Mapuche political prisoner who held a hunger strike for 112 days.

In his capacity as Bishop of Rancagua, Goic was a key factor in the 2007 negotiations between conflicting parties in a fight over Codelco's outsourcing of workers. In a letter signed by him as President of the Chilean Conference of Bishops, dated to 18 July 2007, he stated:

In 2007, just weeks after the state mining company Codelco reached an agreement with the outsourced employees, the prelate said in an interview that the minimum salary of $144,000 CLP (ca. $270 USD) should be replaced by an "ethical wage", which, in his opinion, would be not less than $250,000 CLP (ca. $470 USD). His remarks caused mixed reactions in the country's political, social, and business spheres.

Although not a formal mediator between the warring parties of the 2006 student demonstrations, Goic repeatedly expressed his desire that the demonstrations reach a successful conclusion. Goic issued a statement expressing his opinion:

On 25 May 2006, a group of students threw stones at Goic's residence in the city of Rancagua, having done the same to the city's Liceo Oscar Castro. The bishop had expressed his intention to mediate only hours before.

On 10 July 2003, Pope John Paul II appointed him a coadjutor bishop for the Diocese of Rancagua—a coadjutor bishop performs the same functions as an auxiliary bishop, but is entitled to succession when the office becomes vacant. Thus, with the resignation of Bishop Javier Prado Aránguiz (for reasons of age), Goic took over as the ordinary bishop of the Diocese of Rancagua. He held that post starting in 2004, and is also the President of the Chilean Conference of Bishops. In 2007, Goic was approved for three years in that office.

On 30 June 1991, Goic was transferred from his ecclesiastical jurisdiction, this time as auxiliary bishop for the Diocese of Talca. This appointment lasted until 1994, when he was appointed Bishop of Diocese of Osorno.

During the 1980s, when Goic was auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Concepción, he decided to visit Father Enrique Moreno Laval, a vicar in the Lota coal mining area, in order to familiarize himself with the situation of native workers demanding labor improvements. In turn, he received complaints from unionists in the military regime, who gave him the epithet "Bishop Red". Goic, however, has never been afraid of reprisals, although on one occasion recordings of the radio program Testimonio—which documents human rights and labor abuses—were seized by the military.

Pope John Paul II appointed Goic the titular Bishop of Africa, and auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Concepción. He received episcopal consecration at Rome, on 27 May 1979.

In March 1973, he was appointed Vicar-General of Punta Arenas by Bishop Boric. Upon Boric's death, Goic went on to serve in the post of vicar capitular until the Holy See appointed a bishop for the diocese. The appointment went to Msgr. Tomas Gonzalez, and Goic continued on as vicar general until May 1979. During those years, Father Goic participated in the negotiations that the Catholic Church in Chile made with their counterparts in Argentina, in order to avoid a military conflict in the year 1978 (which would eventually be resolved by the arbitration of Pope John Paul II). Between 1975 and 1976, he continued courses in theology at the Abbey of Saint Andrew in Bruges, Belgium.

Goic was ordained to the priesthood on 12 March 1966 in Punta Arenas, by the man who motivated him to explore his priestly vocation, the bishop of the diocese, Vladimiro Boric. While in the Diocese of Punta Arenas, Goic served as the priest of Our Lady of Fatima parish and the chaplain of the penitentiary in Punta Arenas, until 1973.

Alejandro Goić Karmelić (born 7 March 1940) is a Chilean bishop of the Catholic Church. He was the bishop of the Diocese of Rancagua from 2004 to 2018. He was President of the Chilean Conference of Bishops from 2004 to 2010. He was formerly an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Concepción and the Bishop of the Diocese of Osorno.

Alejandro Goić Karmelić born in the city of Punta Arenas on 7 March 1940, the son of a family of Croatian immigrants, from the island of Brač, Dalmatia. His father was Pedro Goić and his mother Margarita Karmelić; Alejandro was the youngest of four children.