Pope accepts resignation of Chilean bishop at centre of abuse scandal

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of the Catholic bishop at the center of Chile's clergy sexual abuse crisis, in the first of what is expected to be a wave of firings to root out what the pontiff has termed a "culture of abuse and cover-up" in the country's church.

Jun 22, 2018

By Joshua J. McElwee
Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of the Catholic bishop at the center of Chile's clergy sexual abuse crisis, in the first of what is expected to be a wave of firings to root out what the pontiff has termed a "culture of abuse and cover-up" in the country's church.

In a short note June 11, the Vatican said simply that Francis had accepted the resignation of Osorno Bishop Juan Barros Madrid, a controversial prelate who had been accused of covering up abuse by another priest in the 1980s and '90s.

At the same time, the pope accepted the resignations of two other Chilean prelates who had already reached the traditional retirement age of 75. Francis has named separate apostolic administrators to lead each of the three dioceses on a temporary basis.

Barros' resignation appears to wrap up one part of what has been an unusually tumultuous period in Francis' five-year papacy, which touched off during a January visit to Chile when the pontiff enraged abuse survivors and their advocates by calling the accusations against Barros "calumny."

The pope however made a sharp turnabout after the visit abroad, sending one of the church's most respected abuse investigators to Chile to look into the accusations against Osorno's bishop. In a letter to the country's bishops in April after receiving a 2,300-page report on the situation, Francis admitted making "serious mistakes" in his handling of sexual abuse cases in Chile.

Francis has also met two separate groups of Chilean abuse survivors at the Vatican in the past two months, and held an unusual, three-day group meeting with the country's bishops. Most of the country's active bishops presented their resignations to the pontiff after the en masse encounter.

Juan Carlos Cruz, one of the abuse survivors who met the pope, said on Twitter shortly after the June 11 announcement that Barros' resignation represented "a new day for the Catholic Church in Chile."

The other two resignations Francis accepted are from Puerto Montt Archbishop Cristia?n Caro Cordero, who turned 75 in February; and Valparaíso Bishop Gonzalo Duarte Garcia de Corta?zar, who turned 75 last September.

The pope appointed Our Lady of Mercy Fr. Ricardo Morales Galindo to serve as the administrator for the Puerto Montt archdiocese and Santiago Auxiliary Bishop Pedro Ossando?n Buljevic as administrator Valparaíso diocese.

This article first appeared on NCRonline.org, the Website of National Catholic Reporter, and is being used with permission)

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