Vatican City
The Vatican said on Tuesday that Maltese Archbishop Charles Scicluna would travel to Chile “to listen to those who have expressed the desire to provide elements” about the case of Bishop Juan Barros.
The move marks the first known time the Vatican has launched a full-blown investigation into allegations of sex abuse cover-up, and it comes after Francis was harshly criticized for his defense of Barros by the media, survivors of abuse, his fellow Jesuits and by some of his most trusted advisers.
The Barros controversy dominated Francis’ just-ended trip to Chile and Peru and exposed his blind spot about clerical abuse.
Even the head of his abuse advisory panel, Cardinal Sean O’Malley, of Boston, publicly rebuked him for his dismissive treatment of victims and tried to set him straight.
Barros was a protege of the Rev. Fernando Karadima, a charismatic and politically powerful priest who was sanctioned by the Vatican for sexually abusing minors in 2011. His victims testified to Chilean prosecutors that Barros and other priests in the El Bosque community saw Karadima kissing youngsters and were aware of his perversions, but did nothing.
After Karadima was sanctioned by a church court, Chile’s bishops were so intent on trying to stem the fallout from the scandal that they persuaded the Vatican to have Barros and two other Karadima-trained bishops resign and take a yearlong sabbatical, according to a 2015 letter obtained by The Associated Press.
But Francis stepped in and put a stop to the plan, arguing that there wasn’t any proof against them. He overruled the Chilean bishops’ objections and in January 2015 appointed Barros to head the diocese of Osorno. Barros’ presence there has badly split the dioceses, with both laity and priests rejecting him ever since.
The issue haunted Francis’ recent trip, and imploded after he told a Chilean journalist on Jan. 18 that the accusations against Barros were slander and he demanded “proof” against Barros to believe them.
After O’Malley rebuked him, Francis apologized for having demanded proof, but he stood by his belief that the accusations against Barros were “calumny.”
“I am convinced he is innocent,” Francis declared during an in-flight press conference while returning home from Peru on Jan. 21.
Francis seemed unaware that Karadima’s victims had placed Barros at the scene and were the original source of the accusations against him.
Barros said on Tuesday that he welcomed “with faith and joy” the pope’s decision to have Scicluna investigate and prayed that the process would uncover the truth, according to a statement read by the spokesman of the Chilean bishops’ conference.
In the days after the pope’s comments, Karadima victim Juan Carlos Cruz pointedly told Francis that he couldn’t offer the “proof” the pope demanded.