Angry Protest Over Newbishop in Chile
The appeal was also a test case for the pope’s stated policy of zero tolerance for clerical abuses.
Bergoglio Failed!!!!!
SANTIAGO,
Chile — Hundreds of demonstrators dressed in black barged into a cathedral in a
city in southern Chile on Saturday and interrupted the installation ceremony
for the city’s new Roman Catholic bishop, Juan Barros, whom they accuse of
complicity in a notorious case of clerical sexual abuse, blocking his passage
and shouting, “Barros, get out of the city!”
The
scene inside the Cathedral San Mateo de Osorno was chaotic, with television
images showing clashes between Barros opponents, carrying black balloons, and
Barros supporters, carrying white ones. Radio reports said several protesters
tried to climb onto the altar where Bishop Barros was standing. After the ceremony,
he left the cathedral through a side door escorted by police special forces.
Outside, about 3,000 people, including local politicians and members of
Congress, held signs and chanted demands that he resign.
Weeks of
protests, candlelight vigils and letters to Pope Francis were not enough to
persuade him to rescind his decision in January to appoint Bishop Barros to
lead the Diocese of Osorno, 570 miles south of the capital, Santiago. Bishop
Barros was a close associate of the Rev. Fernando Karadima, a prominent
Santiago priest whom the Vatican found guilty of sexual abuse in 2011. Father
Karadima, now 84, was ordered to retire to a “life of prayer and penitence.”
The
appeal was also a test case for the pope’s stated policy of zero tolerance for
clerical abuses.
“We are
used to the blows by the Chilean Catholic hierarchy, but it’s especially
hurtful when the slap in the face comes from Pope Francis himself,” Juan Carlos
Cruz, 51, who said he was abused by Father Karadima in the ’80s, said in a
telephone interview. “We hoped he was different.”
On
Saturday, the Vatican declined to comment on Francis’ appointment of Bishop
Barros.
Mr. Cruz
and three other young men who were devoted followers of Father Karadima, and
members of a Catholic youth movement he oversaw, accused him of sexually
abusing them over two decades, starting when they were teenagers. Criminal
charges were filed against the priest alleging abuse during the years 1980 to
1995, but a Chilean judge dismissed them in 2011, saying the statute of
limitations had expired.
In a
February letter to Archbishop Ivo Scapolo, the papal nuncio to Chile, Mr. Cruz
accused Bishop Barros of covering up Father Karadima’s abuses, threatening
seminarians if they spoke out about them and, while serving as secretary to
Cardinal Juan Francisco Fresno, destroying letters addressed to him reporting
the abuses.
“When we
were in Karadima’s bedroom, Juan Barros saw how he touched us and made us kiss
him,” said Mr. Cruz, referring to himself and other young victims. “He
witnessed all of that countless times. And he has covered it all up.”
In a
statement addressed to the Osorno community, Bishop Barros denied any knowledge
of the abuses. “I never imagined the serious abuses committed by this priest,”
he said. “I have never approved or participated in these gravely dishonest
acts.”
In
February, more than 30 priests and deacons of the Osorno Diocese signed a
letter to Archbishop Scapolo asking the pope to reverse his decision. “We don’t
feel embraced, and much less understood, by our church hierarchy,” they said.
“The spiritual union of our church has been damaged.” Days earlier, 51 members
of the Chilean Congress sent a letter to the Vatican asking the pope to revoke
the appointment.
Absolute Heresy: Who am I to Judge Gay Priests
On
Wednesday, the Chilean Bishops Conference issued a brief statement backing Pope
Francis in “a spirit of faith and obedience” and calling for the unity of the
church, without addressing the accusations against the bishop.
The
archbishop of Concepción, Fernando Chomalí, met with the pope in Rome on March
6. “I spoke to him at length about the consequences the appointment has had in
Osorno and the country,” Archbishop Chomalí said in a text message. “He was
very well-informed of the letters he had received through different channels.
The pope told me he had analyzed the situation in detail and found no reason”
to reverse his decision.
Juan
Carlos Claret, 21, a law student and church member who has been leading the
protests in Osorno, said at least six candlelight vigils had been held in front
of the cathedral in recent weeks. “A bishop has to have moral authority and
Barros doesn’t have it, not for priests, lay people or civil society,” he said.
“What does it take for Barros to resign, if he has the entire community against
him?”
Flashback to Feb 5, 2015
Bergoglio tells bishops to back ‘zero
tolerance’ on sexual abuse….
More BS from Bergoglio.
ROME —
In a new letter addressed to all the bishops of the world, Pope Francis calls
on local churches to abide by a zero tolerance policy on sexual abuse and to
prioritize child safety over the desire to avoid scandal.
“There’s
no place in ministry for those who abuse minors,” Francis said. “Everything
possible must be done to rid the Church of the scourge of the sexual abuse of
minors and to open pathways of reconciliation and healing for those who were
abused.”
The
pope’s letter, which is addressed to bishops’ conferences and to the superiors
of religious orders, comes on the eve of the first plenary meeting of the
Vatican’s Commission for the Protection of Minors, created by Francis in March
of 2014 and headed by Boston Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley.
“Families
need to know that the Church is making every effort to protect their children,”
Francis said.
“They
should also know that they have every right to turn to the Church with full
confidence, for it is a safe and secure home. Consequently, priority must not
be given to any other kind of concern [such as avoiding scandal].”
In his
brief, 700-word letter, the pontiff also talks about his first, and so far
only, meeting with survivors of clerical sex abuse that took place last July in
the Vatican. He described the meeting as a reaffirmation of his conviction that
the Church must be rid of those who abuse.
The
commission will meet for the first time in full from Feb. 6-8. The first 9
members appointed by Francis when the commission was announced have met on
previous occasions.
Francis
said in his letter that he wants the commission to encourage and advance the
commitment of the Church in every level “to take whatever steps are necessary
to ensure the protection of minors and vulnerable adults, and to respond to
their needs with fairness and mercy.”
Last
July, Francis celebrated a Mass attended by a handful of clerical sex abuse
survivors. During his homily he said: “I commit myself not to tolerate harm
done to a minor by any individual, whether a cleric or not.”
Francis
also pledged that any bishop who fails in his responsibility to protect minors
“will be held accountable.”
The pope
created the commission in December 2013 to lead the charge for reform on the
Church’s child sexual abuse scandals. The panel has 17 experts: 10 laypeople
(six of whom are women, and two survivors of sexual abuse), five priests, and
two nuns.
Three of
the experts come from the United States, two from England, and the rest from
France, Colombia, Philippines, New Zealand, Zambia, Italy, Germany, and South
Africa.
Skeptics
about the Vatican’s resolve to turn a corner on the abuse scandals have
complained about the time it has taken to get the new commission up and
running, especially compared to the pace at which other reforms under Pope
Francis are moving.
A senior
Vatican official defended the delay last November.
“When
the commission was announced, the world expected an office with 45 employees,
making decisions on the spot,” said the official, who asked not to be
identified because he is not authorized to speak for the commission. “But
they’re building something that will become part of the Church’s ministry, a
major component in the way we address the issue of abuse and on the defense of
children and vulnerable adults.”
“We
can’t make mistakes,” he said. “We can’t afford a misstep.”
In his
letter, Francis said that all dioceses, institutes of consecrated life, and
societies of apostolic life have to identify programs for pastoral care that
include provisions for psychological assistance and spiritual care, as
requested by a letter sent to the same groups in 2011.
“Pastors
and those in charge of religious communities should be available to meet with
victims and their loved ones;” Francis said, “[for] such meetings are valuable
opportunities for listening to those who have greatly suffered and for asking
their forgiveness.”
The pope
closed his letter with a prayer, requesting help to “carry out, generously and
thoroughly, our duty to humbly acknowledge and repair past injustices and to
remain ever faithful in the work of protecting those closest to the heart of
Jesus.”
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