CHILE
Headlines from the Catholic World
Santiago, Chile, Mar 24, 2015 / 05:11 pm (CNA).- A group of protesters attempted to stop the installation of Bishop Juan Barros Madrid as the new bishop of Osorno in southern Chile, pushing the bishop and throwing objects at him during the March 21 Mass.
The protestors accuse Bishop Barros of covering up sexual abuse committed by Fr. Fernando Karadima. The bishop has repeatedly denied it. The story was picked up this weekend by international news media.
Here are some keys to understanding what has happened since Jan. 10 of this year, when Pope Francis named Bishop Juan Barros as the new bishop of Osorno:
1. Who is Fernando Karadima Farina?
Fr. Karadima fostered the vocation of some 40 priests, including Bishop Juan Barros, who decades ago belonged to Karadima’s closest circle of friends. When reports of sexual abuse and other scandal surrounding Karadima surfaced, Bishop Barros, like a number of other prelates, at first did not believe the accusations.
The judge in the civil case dismissed the charges because the alleged abuse was too far in the past. Nevertheless, in February 2011, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Vatican completed its own investigation and declared 84-year-old Karadima guilty. He was sent to a life of solitude and prayer.
The news of the sentence surprised bishops, priests and lay people who viewed the priest as a role model and considered the initial accusations as an attack on the Church.
2. Juan Carolos Cruz and the accusers
Three of Karadima’s reported victims are accusing Bishop Barros of covering up the priest’s abuses. The accusations do not agree with the investigation carried out by the Vatican. Juan Carlos Cruz is the most well known of the accusers. He lives in the United States and is often asked by national and international news media for comments on what is happening in the Chilean Church.
After Bishop Juan Barros was appointed as Bishop of Orsono, Cruz told CNN Chile that the Chilean Episcopal Conference and Pope Francis were giving Karadima’s victims “a slap in the face.” This has created international media attention.
3. Bishop Barros’ Defense
Bishop Juan Barros and three other bishops close to Karadima supported the decision of the Holy See in April of 2011 and denied having known about his double life. They declared in a statement that “with great sorrow we have accepted the sentence declaring him guilty of serious offences condemned by the Church. Like so many, we learned about this situation and its diverse and multiple effects with deep astonishment and pain.”
In a letter addressed to the faithful of the Osorno diocese days before his installation, Bishop Barros reiterated that “I never had any knowledge of any accusation concerning Father Karadima when I was the Secretary for Cardinal Juan Francisco Fresno and I never had any knowledge nor did I even imagine such grave abuses as this priest committed against his victims. I neither approved nor participated in those actions.”
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