The Vatican has announced that Pope Francis has accepted resignations from Bishop Alejandro Goic Karmelic of Rancagua and Bishop Horacio del Carmen Valenzuela Abarca of Talca.
The Chilean bishops failed to protect children from paedophile priests.
Goic has served as head of the Chilean church’s child protection commission.
The extent of clerical paedophilia in Chile was detailed in a 2,300-page report compiled earlier this year at Francis’s request by Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta and his aide, Fr Jordi Bertomeu.
Although almost every bishop in Chile offered his resignation to Pope Francis after a three-day meeting with him at the Vatican in May, he has accepted only individual resignations since the bishops returned to Chile.
So far he has accepted resignations from five bishops.
They include Bishop Juan Barros of Osorno, once a top aide to Chile’s most notorious predator priest, Fernando Karadima.
Originally Francis strongly defended Barros, dismissing objections from many of Chile’s faithful, including some church officials, who said the bishop was unfit for the office because he ignored Karadima’s abuse.
After Scicluna’s investigations, Barros’s shielding of Karadima came to light.
It also became clear some bishops not only slowed an investigation into Karadima, but also tampered with evidence.
Source
- La Croix
- Catholic Herald
- LA Times
- Image: CNN.com