Religion
Related: About this forumPope Francis admits 'grave error' in discrediting Chilean church sexual abuse victims
Source: Associated Press
Associated Press in Santiago
Wed 11 Apr 2018 22.07 BST
Pope Francis has admitted he made grave errors in judgment in a clerical sexual abuse scandal in Chile and invited the abuse victims he had discredited to Rome to beg their forgiveness.
In an extraordinary letter published on Wednesday, Francis also summoned all of Chiles bishops to the Vatican for an emergency summit in the coming weeks to discuss the scandal, which has badly tarnished his reputation and that of the Chilean church.
The Vatican orders up such emergency visits only on rare occasions, when Vatican intervention is urgently required, such as when the clerical sexual abuse scandal exploded in the United States in 2002.
Francis said the meeting, which comes just a year after the Chilean bishops were last in Rome on a regular visit, would have as its objective repairing scandal where possible and re-establishing justice.
Francis blamed a lack of truthful and balanced information in his missteps in judging the case of Bishop Juan Barros, a protege of Chiles most notorious predator priest, the Rev Fernando Karadima. Francis had strongly defended Barros during his January visit to Chile, despite accusations by victims that he witnessed and ignored their abuse.
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/apr/11/pope-francis-chile-church-sex-abuse-scandal
trotsky
(49,533 posts)He'll do everything he can to get back to good PR... except for actually doing something about the problem. Lots of nice words, though.
guillaumeb
(42,641 posts)trotsky
(49,533 posts)No matter how much you try.
guillaumeb
(42,641 posts)trotsky
(49,533 posts)marylandblue
(12,344 posts)Pope Francis finally did do the right thing. Better late than never. I hope be actually does do something to protect children in the future.
Isn't that the real issue? Isn't it better to just say what you think about the real issue instead of making everything about what some atheists in some little corner of the Internet think?
Major Nikon
(36,827 posts)The reason the Pope is doing the right thing is because he got busted one again calling South American nuns who gossip terrorists. In other words the real reason the RCC is hemorrhaging members in South America isnt because of child raping priests and those who try to cover up abuse, but whistleblowing nuns.
Its easy to do the right thing when you have no other choice.
A nun who gossips, he said, is a terrorist nun.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/21/world/americas/pope-francis-peru.html
marylandblue
(12,344 posts)And good for the nuns for standing up.
Major Nikon
(36,827 posts)As has happened so many times in these cases the Pope scuttled the child rapists off to Rome to avoid prosecution and instructed their organization to bankroll their living expenses. The victims then refused to testify knowing full well their rapists would never be brought to justice and instead get to retire comfortably with Catholic money. The statute of limitation is now running out and it will be just another case of the RCC fully supporting child rapists over victims.
Meanwhile the Pope failed to apologize to the courageous nuns who came forward and got labeled as "terrorists" for their trouble. The Pope is effectively offering no more than "thoughts and prayers", and is simply perpetuating a culture that will continue to harm the most helpless victims in the most evil way possible.
Major Nikon
(36,827 posts)guillaumeb
(42,641 posts)Major Nikon
(36,827 posts)guillaumeb
(42,641 posts)Oh well.
Major Nikon
(36,827 posts)Lordquinton
(7,886 posts)trotsky
(49,533 posts)Lordquinton
(7,886 posts)But I'm sure iit still means nothing.