CHILE
Damage Control
The pope’s visit to staunchly Catholic Chile looks set to start out as an exercise in damage control.
His trip is expected to be met with protests over sexual abuse by priests and confronted by Chileans newly disillusioned about the Roman Catholic Church, the Associated Press reported.
In 2015, many Chileans were outraged by Pope Francis’ appointment of Rev. Juan Barros as bishop of the southern city of Osorno. Barros was the protégé of the Rev. Fernando Karadima – who the Vatican found guilty in 2011 of abusing dozens of minors over decades. Barros has maintained that he didn’t know about the abuse, but many Chileans aren’t convinced.
Upon his arrival, Francis was received by President Michelle Bachelet. But the crowds were thin compared with his reception in other Latin American countries – signaling the damage the sex abuse scandal has done to the pope’s plan to highlight the plight of immigrants and indigenous peoples.
No comments:
Post a Comment