This is probably the first time I can ever remember feeling "Right on, Pope Francis!" upon reading the ff news item. (It's a most imperfect analogy but the thought struck me that it was as if the late John Paul II might have issued an apology afterwards for kissing the Koran, or at least some statement to rationalize why on earth he felt called upon to do that!)
Of course, in this case, my approval, even applause, is far from unconditional. The key here is that Bergoglio has shown us he is capable of admitting error, even if in this case, it is error about objective news facts, and his biased and dogged misinterpretation of what until not so long ago he dismissed almost contemptuously as 'calumny'.
Of course, that's different from admitting any error in his own statements, especially when these have to do with bimillennial teachings he is seeking to reverse or overthrow. On that, I don't expect him to fold over and do the humble thing he is doing now about the Chile case.
Thankfully, it appears Mons. Scicluna - as unreliable as he has proved to be on standing firm on doctrine (which was shocking for someone who spent more than a decade at the CDF) - kept enough of his commonsense in dealing with sex abuse accusations to render a report on the Barros case that allowed Bergoglio to reverse himself.
And why not, after all? There is no downside to it - he reinforces his creds as 'the humble pope' and regains some of the creds he has lost in terms of his seriousness about dealing with clerical sex abuse. And now, even the MSM which had turned against him for his stubborn defense of Barros and dismissal of his accusers will suddenly wreathe him in incense once more!
Plus, he's even going to meet with the victims he snubbed mercilessly in Chile and lied about (saying they never asked to meet with him!). Of course, we have yet to see, "So what's next here?" What happens to Barros, the unlikely sword on which the mighty Bergoglio has chosen to fall on, after his earlier absolute certainty that he had done nothing but the correct and proper things with regard to that hapless bishop?
Pope Francis says he made
‘serious mistakes’ over
Chile abuse crisis
by Junno Arocho Esteves
Wednesday, 11 Apr 2018
Pope Francis has apologised for underestimating the seriousness of the sexual abuse crisis in Chile, following a recent investigation into allegations concerning Bishop Juan Barros of Osorno.
The Pope said he made
“serious mistakes in the assessment and perception of the situation, especially due to a lack of truthful and balanced information”. [Yeah, well, that's what you can expect in a Soviet-style regime where the Supremo is told only what he wants to hear!]
“I ask forgiveness of all those I have offended and I hope to be able to do it personally in the coming weeks,” the Pope said in the letter, which was released by the Vatican. Several survivors apparently have been invited to the Vatican to meet the Pope.
Abuse victims alleged that Bishop Barros – then a priest – had witnessed their abuse by his mentor, Fr Fernando Karadima. In 2011, Fr Karadima was sentenced to a life of prayer and penance by the Vatican after he was found guilty of sexually abusing boys. Fr Karadima denied the charges. He was not prosecuted civilly because the statute of limitations had run out.
Protesters and victims said Bishop Barros is guilty of protecting Fr Karadima and was physically present while some of the abuse was going on.
During his visit to Chile in January, Pope Francis asked forgiveness for the sexual abuse committed by some priests in Chile. “I feel bound to express my pain and shame at the irreparable damage caused to children by some of the ministers of the Church,” he said.
However, speaking to reporters, he pledged his support for Bishop Barros and said: “The day they bring me proof against Bishop Barros, I will speak. There is not one piece of evidence against him. It is calumny.”
He later apologised to the victims and admitted that his choice of words wounded many.
A short time later, the Vatican announced that Pope Francis was sending a trusted investigator to Chile to listen to people with information about Bishop Barros.
The investigator, Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta, is president of a board of review within the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The board handles appeals filed by clergy accused of abuse or other serious crimes. The archbishop also had 10 years of experience as the Vatican’s chief prosecutor of clerical sex abuse cases at the doctrinal congregation.
Pope Francis said Archbishop Scicluna and his aide, Fr Jordi Bertomeu Farnos, heard the testimony of 64 people and presented him with more than 2,300 pages of documentation. Not all of the witnesses spoke about Fr Karadima and Bishop Barros; several of them gave testimony about abuse alleged to have occurred at a Marist Brothers’ school.
After a “careful reading” of the testimonies, the Pope said,
“I believe I can affirm that all the testimonies collected speak in a brutal way, without additives or sweeteners, of many crucified lives and, I confess, it has caused me pain and shame.”
The Pope said he was convening a meeting in Rome with the 34 Chilean bishops to discuss the findings of the investigations and his own conclusions “without prejudices nor preconceived ideas,
with the single objective of making the truth shine in our lives”.
[It sure took him more than two years to get around to that position. But we are still where he alone decides what he considers 'truth' or not! However, since this is a watershed damage control effort by him to regain some credibility on the sex abuse issue, he will surely be most circumspect - one hopes - in his subsequent moves to rehabilitate himself after such a major error of arrogant pigheadedness... So, will he now allow Barros to resign, as the bishop was ready to do more than two years ago except Bergoglio himself asked him to stay on? And what will he do about Cardinal Errazuriz who sits on his Crown Council of Nine, when it was the man, then Archbishop of Santiago, who had decided way back to simply shelve all the accusations against Karadima - and then, to his great shame (I assume, but maybe not!), the case was forwarded to the CDF where it was correctly and properly adjudged.]
Pope Francis said he wanted to meet the bishops to discern immediate and long-term steps to “re-establish ecclesial communion in Chile in order to repair the scandal as much as possible and re-establish justice”.
Archbishop Scicluna and Fr Bertomeu, the Pope said, had been overwhelmed by the “maturity, respect and kindness” of the victims who testified.
“As pastors,” the Pope told the bishops, “we must express the same feeling and cordial gratitude to those who, with honesty [and] courage” requested to meet with the envoys and “showed them the wounds of their soul”.
Following the release of Pope Francis’s letter, Bishop Santiago Silva Retamales, president of the bishops’ conference and head of the military ordinariate, said the bishops of Chile would travel to the Vatican in the third week of May.
The bishops, he said, shared in the Pope’s pain.
“We have not done enough,” he said in a statement. “Our commitment is that this does not happen again.”
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 14/04/2018 21:25]