SPAIN
El Pais
CARLOS E. CUÉ
May 21, 2018
Madrid
Juan Carlos Cruz is still recovering from the shock. Three months ago, Cruz, who was a victim of sex abuse by a Chilean priest named Fernando Karadima, clashed with Pope Francis during the latter’s trip to the South American nation.
The head of the Roman Catholic Church accused Cruz of making slanderous statements without proof against Bishop Juan Barros, who had once been a protégé of Karadima. According to Cruz, Barros had been present when Karadima abused him in the 1980s, but later tried to hinder an investigation into his mentor.
The pope is taking unprecedented steps, he knows that the whole world is watching
Some time after the public spat, and following a Vatican investigation, the pontiff invited Cruz to spend at week at his own residence in Santa Marta, where he apologized and said that he now believed his story.
Since then, all 34 bishops of Chile have offered to resign over the scandal, marking a milestone in the global fight by victims of Church abuse. In a telephone interview with EL PAÍS, an emotional Cruz said he trusts that Pope Francis’ change of heart is definitive.
Question. How did you take the news about the 34 bishops’ offer to resign?
Answer. I am overcome with emotion after spending a week at the Pope’s house and talking with him for hours, as though we’d been lifelong friends, and then seeing his letter to the Chilean bishops mentioning many of the things that we’d discussed together and which he took very seriously, such as the issue of corruption among the bishops, and how he accused them of concealing documents and minimizing things…I was touched that he took our conversation so seriously. I felt that our time together was not simply a protocol thing or a public relations stunt.
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