By Pascale Bonnefoy and Austin Ramzy, Jan. 19, 2018, The New York Times
SANTIAGO, Chile — Pope Francis has accused abuse victims in Chile of slandering a bishop who they say protected a pedophile priest, upending his efforts to rehabilitate the Catholic Church’s reputation while visiting South America.
Francis told reporters Thursday there was not a shred of evidence against Bishop Juan Barros Madrid, who victims of the Rev. Fernando Karadima, Chile’s most notorious priest, have accused of being complicit in his crimes.
“The day someone brings me proof against Bishop Barros, then I will talk,” Francis said before celebrating Mass outside the northern Chilean city of Iquique. “But there is not one single piece of evidence. It is all . . .
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Francis began his visit to Chile on Tuesday morning by publicly apologizing for the sexual abuse involving the clergy, saying he felt “pained and ashamed” over the “irreparable damage” done to their victims.
Then he attacks the victims: “But there is not one single piece of evidence. It is all slander. Is that clear?”
So we are all slanderers!
“The day someone brings me proof against Bishop Barros, then I will talk,” (pope Francis)
But he refused to meet with victims of Father Karadima-the very people who could give him the evidence.
The archbishop of Santiago, Francisco Javier Errázuriz, who has been harshly criticized by Father Karadima’s victims for failing to protect them or investigate their accusations at the time, said the controversy over Bishop Barros was an “invention.”
Proverbial Freudian slips on what the pope and his bishops think about the survivors of sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests. Slanderers and liars!