CHILE/ROME
The Guardian
Jonathan Franklin in Santiago and Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Rome
Tuesday 17 March 2015
Pope Francis’s vow to stamp out sexual abuse by priests – and the Catholic church’s decades-long cover-up of such scandals – is being tested following the appointment of a bishop in Chile who has been linked to a notorious abuse case.
Politicians and some church leaders in Chile have demanded the resignation of Juan Barros, the pope’s appointment as bishop of Osorno in southern Chile, following allegations that he helped cover up – and at times participated in – abuse against minors by his longtime mentor, a priest called Fernando Karadima.
The case has consequences far beyond Chile, given Pope Francis’s repeated promises to confront the abuse scandals. Victims’ rights activists are calling for the pontiff’s intervention in the case following an outcry by parishioners in the region.
So far, however, Barros appears to have the full weight of the Vatican behind him.
Priests in Osorno say the pope’s choice has left them “confused and irritated”.
In Santiago, the nation’s capital, Father Alex Vigueras, a priest in the congregation of the Sacred Hearts, said the appointment “is not attuned with the zero tolerance [policy on pedophilia] that is trying to be installed in the church”. …
Peter Saunders, a British abuse survivor who sits on a new papal commission to protect children, credits Pope Francis for being vocal about the abuse scandals. But he said that proof of the church’s seriousness in tackling the problem will be revealed by its action – or inaction – in cases like the one in Chile.
Saunders has also been critical of the church’s handling of another case in Missouri, where Bishop Robert Finn has remained in power even after he was convicted of failing to report clerical child sex abuse.
“If we don’t see real change, if we don’t see the likes of Bishop Finn removed immediately and this case in Chile being resolved, then the committee will be a pointless exercise,” Saunders told The Guardian.
The Vatican declined to comment.
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