The Catholic Pontiff, Pope Francis 1, is an enigma. The more one tries to understand him, the more the person flounders. He easily stepped into the shoes of his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, and showed no qualms in apologizing for the sins of the clergy. All of a sudden, he has made a U-turn and accused victims of Chile’s most notorious pedophile of slander, during a visit meant to help heal the wounds of a sex abuse scandal that has cost the Catholic Church its credibility in the country.
Pope Francis said that until he sees proof that Bishop Juan Barros was complicit in covering up the sex crimes of the Rev. Fernando Karadima, such accusations against Barros are “all calumny.”
The Pope’s remarks drew shock from Chileans and immediate rebuke from victims and their advocates. They noted the accusers were deemed credible enough by the Vatican that it sentenced Karadima to a lifetime of “penance and prayer” for his crimes in 2011. A Chilean judge also found the claim by the victims to be credible, saying that while she had to drop criminal charges against Karadima because too much time had passed, not because there was no proof of his crimes.
Pope Francis reopened the wounds of the scandal in 2015 when he named Barros, a protege of Karadima, as bishop of the southern diocese of Osorno. Karadima’s victims say Barros knew of the abuse, having seen it, but did nothing. Barros has denied the allegations. His appointment outraged Chileans, badly divided the Osorno diocese and further undermined the church’s already shaky credibility in the country.
The Pontiff had sought to heal the wounds by meeting with abuse victims and begging forgiveness for the crimes of church pastors. But he later struck a defiant tone when asked by a Chilean journalist about Barros. “The day they bring me proof against Bishop Barros, I’ll speak,” Francis said. “There is not one shred of proof against him. It’s all calumny. Is that clear?”
Pope Francis had defended the appointment before, calling the Osorno controversy “stupid” and the result of a campaign mounted by leftists. Reporters say the Vatican has been so worried about the fallout from the Karadima affair that it was prepared in 2014 to ask Barros and two other bishops trained by the embattled cleric to resign and go on a yearlong sabbatical.
