ROME
National Catholic Reporter
March 9, 2018
By Joshua J. McElwee
A Chilean cardinal and member of Pope Francis’ advisory Council of Cardinals has sent a letter to the presidents of various Latin American bishops’ conferences to rebut media reports that the pope’s visit to Chile in January was a failure.
Cardinal Francisco Errázuriz Ossa, the retired archbishop of the Chilean capital of Santiago, blamed some of the poor press coverage of the visit on the actions of Bishop Juan Barros Madrid, who has been accused of covering-up sexual abuse perpetrated by a fellow priest in the 1980s and ’90s.
In a five-page recounting of Francis’ Jan. 15-18 trip, obtained by NCR, Errázuriz said Barros made himself available for interviews with journalists after concelebrating at Masses with Francis along with other Chilean bishops.
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