LA CROSSE (WI)
La Crosse Tribune
July 22, 2018
By Vince Hatt
On a snowy night in April 2018, Juan Carlos Cruz was at his home near Philadelphia watching Netflix and eating Honey Nut Cheerios. The phone rang. It was a Vatican official. The pope wanted to apologize to Cruz.
When I heard about this, I pumped my fist in the air and yelled “Yes!” The pope was about to start a game-changer in the long-running sexual abuse scandal in the church.
Here’s the story. In January 2018, Pope Francis visited Chile to heal a divided church. It did not happen. Rather, evidence was presented to him that one of his appointees, Bishop Juan Carlos Barros, was protecting one of his priests who had sexually abused young men. The pope not only criticized those speaking against the bishop, he charged them with slander.
The response of the National Catholic Reporter was immediate and harsh. A January 23 editorial stated: “The overwhelming consensus in the media is that Pope Francis has a blind spot when it comes to sexual abuse. … He just doesn’t get it when it comes to victims of abuse. The evidence for this assertion is the pope’s unwavering support for Juan Barros.”
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