CHILE
CTV (Canada)
Eva Vergara, The Associated Press
Published Saturday, March 21, 2015
SANTIAGO, Chile — A bishop was ordained in southern Chile on Saturday amid shouts and scuffles between supporters and protesters who accuse him of covering up crimes of a mentor the Vatican has sanctioned for abusing young boys.
Riot police protected the 58-year-old Rev. Juan Barros as he left the ceremony at the cathedral of San Mateo in the city of Osorno.
Thousands of churchgoers dressed in the black of mourning protested outside the church and a few made their way inside, despite police efforts to keep them out. Even inside the cathedral, supporters of Barros scuffled with opponents who shouted denunciations.
Only 15 of the country’s 35 bishops and many priests from the diocese also shunned the ordination of their new bishop — a service without communion that was cut short after half an hour.
While Barros himself is not accused of molestation, at least three victims of sex abuse say he was present when they were molested by the Rev. Fernando Karadima in the 1980s and 90s.
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