CHILE
France 24
May 18, 2018, updated May 20, 2018
By Nicole Trian
The Catholic Church is facing a widening crisis over claims of child sex abuse and cover-ups that triggered the unprecedented resignation of all 34 of Chile’s bishops on Friday after the pope accused them of “grave negligence.”
The decision to resign followed four days of emergency talks with Pope Francis in which the pontiff accused bishops of failing to investigate abuse allegations amid claims that evidence of sex crimes had been destroyed.It is the first time all of the most senior clerics of a country have volunteered to stand down over sex abuse claims. They asked forgiveness from the victims, the pope and all Catholics for their “grave errors and omissions” while vowing to repair the damage.
One of the resigning bishops, Alejandro Goic, apologised again Saturday for failing to respond to reports of cases of sexual abuse in his diocese, including one involving a priest who sent naked pictures of himself to a false Facebook profile in a sting operation.
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