Last week, the Vatican issued a statement indicating that Pope Francis had accepted the resignations of Bishop Juan Barros of Osorno, Bishop Gonzalo Duarte of Valparaiso and Bishop Cristian Caro of Puerto Montt.
Of the three, only the 61-year-old Bishop Barros is below the retirement age of 75.
Francis named temporary leaders for each of the dioceses.
Archbishop Charles Scicluna and Spanish Monsignor Jordi Bertomeu, the two investigators who provided the Holy Father with overwhelming evidence of widespread abuse and coverup are heading back to Chile to begin what the Vatican has said is a “healing” mission.
By announcing the acceptance of these three resignations on the eve of their arrival, Pope Francis is essentially giving the investigators a hand in helping to heal the divisions in a diocese where Bishop Barros was never fully accepted on account of his silence despite his knowledge of instances of abuse.
The investigators also amassed evidence that the Chilean hierarchy systematically covered up and minimized abuse cases, destroying evidence of sex crimes, pressuring church investigators to discredit abuse accusations and showing “grave negligence” in protecting children from pedophile priests.
Subsequent to the Pope’s meeting with all the Chilean Bishops, a host of new accusations have come to light, leading the Pope to refer to a “culture of abuse and cover-up” in the Catholic Church.
The latest scandal involves revelations of a gay Priest sex ring in the Rancagua diocese of the very Bishop who headed the Chilean church’s sex abuse prevention commission. To date, 14 Priests in Rancagua have been suspended and the Bishop has resigned as head of the commission after admitting he was slow to act on accusations minors had been abused.
Most recently, Chilean police and prosecutors raided Roman Catholic Church offices in two Chilean cities in search of documents related to a child sex abuse scandal.
Officials have reportedly targeted the headquarters of Santiago’s Ecclesiastical Court and the Bishop’s office in Rancagua.
The “healing mission” for the Church in Chile will be long and arduous indeed.
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