ROME
America
Gerard O’Connell
May 14, 2018
The 34 Chilean bishops have come to Rome “in pain and shame” because of the victims who have suffered abuse in their church, and they are conscious that as bishops they have erred. They have come “in a spirit of humility and openness,” willing to hear what Pope Francis has to say to them, and “ready to collaborate with him and do whatever he asks.” That was the message that two representatives of the Chilean bishops communicated to the international press at a conference at the Vatican Radio center on May 14.
The bishops had delegated two of their number to meet the press this evening: Fernando Ramos Pérez, the secretary general of the bishops’ conference and auxiliary bishop in the Santiago archdiocese, and Juan Ignacio González Errázuriz, the bishop of San Bernardo and a member of Opus Dei.
Bishop Ramos said they would have several meetings with Pope Francis over the next three days, starting early Tuesday afternoon, May 15, and continuing until May 17. They would meet him as a group “in a long synodal process,” which may not necessarily conclude in these three days, “to discern the short-, medium- and long-term measures” that need to be taken in the face of the present situation. They did not yet know if they will have individual meetings with him. Nor is it scheduled that they will concelebrate the Eucharist with the pope, he said. They did not know exactly how this whole process will unfold.
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