Chilean Bishop Juan Barros should resign because he covered up clerical sex abuse.
Cardinal Ricardo Ezzati says Barros, who allegedly covered up abuse of minors, should ‘without a doubt’ resign.
He also says he would not judge whether Barros actually had covered up abuse by Fr Fernando Karadima.
“I’m not a judge” who can say if Barros in fact covered up or not.
Baross’s diocese of Osorno released a statement on Thursday saying he has some “health difficulties,” while reiterating that he’s “permanently available to the directions of the Holy Father.”
No details were given regarding his condition.
Last week Pope Francis admitted ‘grave mistakes’ in his handling of the abuse crisis.
After initially defending Barros and saying he had been slandered, Francis appointed Vatican-based sexual abuse investigator Archbishop Charles Scicluna to investigate the matter.
Scicluna went to Chile to meet with abuse victims and clergy to find out whether Barros did have a case to answer.
After reading Scicluna’s 2,300-page report, which included the testimony of 64 individuals, Francis changed his mind about Barros.
He said the report caused him “pain and shame” and he apologised to everyone he offended by his earlier stance.
He acknowledged he made “serious errors of assessment and perception … especially due to lack of truthful and balanced information.”
Ezzati says Francis was “deceived” with the information given to him about Barros.
He says it is “a very serious fault to have misinformed the Holy Father,” and noted he hadn’t “deceived anyone” himself.
In his opinion the bishop’s situation should have been resolved “years ago.”
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