Brave Men Arrested for Attempting to Deliver Letter to Pope

SNAP
July 10, 2015

http://www.snapnetwork.org/bolivia_brave_men_arrested_for_attempting_to_deliver_letter_to_pope

Three young men have been arrested in Bolivia (and apparently held for 14 hours) after trying to deliver a letter to Pope Francis about a controversial Chilean bishop the pontiff promoted.

We applaud the courage of these men who are concerned about the horrific track record of Bishop Juan Barros, who concealed and, some say, participated in child sex crimes by Fr. Fernando Karadima.

While we don’t know many details of their arrest, we suspect it was an over-reaction by authorities. We hope the arrest was not in response to pressure from Catholic officials. We commend Mario Vargas, Juan Carlos Claret and Felipe Navarrete for trying to protect children and get a corrupt church official out of office.

Pope Francis should reach out to, and listen to, these brave men. The pope should also demote Barros immediately and apologize for his callous and irresponsible promotion of Barros.