Pope Francis is Under Pressure

Pope Francis has rceived Cardinal Sean in audience while a clear demand has come from Chile.

(Santiago de Chile) Twice yesterday, the case of Barros stood front and center: in Rome and in Santiago de Chile. Cardinal Ricardo Ezzati SDB, the Archbishop of Santiago de Chile, opened an extraordinary gathering of the Chilean clergy yesterday. In Rome, the most important critic of Pope Francis was received in audience.
 
The reason is Pope Francis' letter to the Chilean Episcopal Conference. With the letter, the Catholic Church leader responded to the report of his special envoy, Msgr. Charles Scicluna, on the sexual abuse scandal in Chile and around the ex-priest Fernando Karadima. The focus is Bishop Juan Barros Madrid. In spite of serious warnings, Pope Francis made him bishop of the diocese of Osorno in early 2015. Karadima victims and a group of faithful from the diocese of Osorno have since protested against this appointment. They accuse Msgr. Barros  of covering Karadima's crimes.
 
For three years, Pope Francis dismissed any criticism as "defamation" and "instrumentalization" by circles hostile to the Church. Therefore, he refused to speak with Barros critics and listen to them.
  
After Francis maintained this attitude during his visit to Chile last January, the criticism became so strong that he finally had to react. The pope's visit in Chile took place mostly in more remote areas. The Chileans showed demonstrative disinterest. The Karadima case, as the Bishops' Conference noted, severely shook faith in the Church. Nevertheless, Pope Francis saw no reason to change his attitude towards the victims and Bishop Barros. Rather, he explicitly invited him to concelebrate with him publicly. The head of the Church evidently thought of silencing the critics with this gesture of demonstrative confidence in Barros. Instead, Cardinal Sean Patrick O'Malley OFM Cap of Boston joined the criticism. The cardinal is familiar with the case as President of the Pontifical Child Protection Commission.
 
At the same time, evidence was presented that Pope Francis since the spring of 2015 was informed about the allegations against Msgr. Barros. The pope had claimed otherwise on the return flight to Rome.

 

Course change - or not

 

Ten days after his return from Latin America, therefore, Francis made a course correction to curb the international expansion of criticism of his position. He appointed the Archbishop of Malta, Mgr. Charles Scicluna, Pontifical Special Envoy. Scicluna was commissioned to hear the Barros critics. He should do what Francis had refused to do for three years. In the second half of March, Scicluna presented more than 2,300 pages of reports after hearing more than 60 people in the US and Chile.

Cardinal Ezzati yesterday at the press conference in Santiago de Chile

On April 11, the Vatican Press Office published a letter from Pope Francis to the Chilean bishops. He responded to the Scicluna report and spoke of the "pain and shame" he felt when reading the report.
In parallel, the Chilean Episcopal Conference issued a statement announcing the Pope's contrite attitude to the Chileans in order to restore their shattered confidence. Behind the scenes, the question was not settled.
 
Francis did not mention Bishop Barros in his letter. Rather, he issued an invitation to the bishops to come to Rome to discuss the matter. The bishops were silent in public. However, they knew that Francis was signaling that he would continue to cling to Barros, the stumbling block in public perception.
 
Barros himself had in the past submitted to the pope two resignations, which Francis rejected.  A third request was to have Archbishop Scicluna together with his report at the papal desk. Barros himself denies this.

Clear signals from Cardinal Ezzati to Francis

The fact is that the head of the Chilean Episcopal Conference wants to conclude the Barros case and therefore wants consequences. And not just since today, but already for three years. Francis was then also warned from the ranks of the Episcopal Conference against appointing Barros as Bishop of Osorno. The Pope, however, clings to him steadfastly. More and more often the question arises as to why.
 
Outwardly, the Chilean Episcopal Conference looks to be in good spirits. Yet behind the scenes there is considerable discord that Francis does not want Barros to give up his office.
 
The meeting called by Cardinal Ezzati yesterday in Santiago de Chile appealed to the whole clergy of the country to analyze the letter of Pope Francis. On the one hand, it is about the difficult task of regaining the lost trust among Chileans and, on the other, eliminating the causes. What Cardinal Ezzati imagines, he said very clearly and publicly afterwards. He expects Msgr. Barros to resign:

"I'm not a judge to decide if he's covered up something or not. For the good of the Church, however, he should take a step aside."

At the same time the cardinal tried a difficult balancing act, with which he wanted to protect the reputation of the pope and at the same time wanted to build a bridge to accept the resignation Barros.  
Cardinal Ezzati made it clear at yesterday's press conference that the Pope had to decide on his resignation. So far, Francis has rejected Barros' resignations. Ezzati, President of the Chilean Episcopal Conference from 2010-2016, assured the press that Pope Francis had been "deceived" as far as the information on the Karadima and Barros case was concerned.
 
Will Francis yield to this pressure from the Chilean Episcopal Conference?
 

Audience for Cardinal O'Malley in Rome

Yesterday, an event took place in Rome, even before the clergy meeting had begun in Santiago de Chile, which was likely to be directly linked to Chile.
 

Daily Bulletin: Audience for Cardinal O'Malley

Cardinal Sean Patrick O'Malley was received in audience by Pope Francis. It was noted in the Vatican's daily bulletin that the cardinal is chairman of the Pontifical Child Protection Commission . Nothing was known about the content of the meeting. However, it is believed that Cardinal O'Malley served as chairman of the Child Protection Commission at Francis and was speaking about the Barros case.
 
The meeting of Chilean bishops with Pope Francis in Rome is expected to take place in the third week of May. Until then, no decisions are likely to be made, as Francis has so far indicated no signs of wanting to change his position on Barros.
 
Has what Cardinal O'Malley said to him yesterday and what Cardinal Ezzati demanded yesterday,  changed his mind?
 
The video with central excerpts from the press conference of Cardinal Ezzati yesterday in Santiago de Chile:
 

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Bild: Vatican.va/MiL (Screenshots)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
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The Pope Knew But He Lies

Edit: so far there’s been no word from ++ Seán of Boston, who heads the Commission for the Protection of Minors, has not been available for comment about the letter he passed on to the Pope detailing abuse and a coverup by Barros, whom he vehemently defended on his South America trip and even accused the accusers of lying. It is he who lies like the Father of lies.

It looks like it’s OK to sexually abuse children if you’re part of Bergoglio’s agenda. He will even lie to defend you.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis received a victim’s letter in 2015 that graphically detailed how a priest sexually abused him and how other Chilean clergy ignored it, contradicting the pope’s recent insistence that no victims had come forward to denounce the cover-up, the letter’s author and members of Francis’ own sex- abuse commission have told The Associated Press.

The fact that Francis received the eight-page letter, obtained by the AP, challenges his insistence that he has “zero tolerance” for sex abuse and cover-ups. It also calls into question his stated empathy with abuse survivors, compounding the most serious crisis of his five-year papacy.

The scandal exploded last month when Francis’ trip to South America was marred by protests over his vigorous defense of Bishop Juan Barros, who is accused by victims of witnessing and ignoring the abuse by the Rev. Fernando Karadima. During the trip, Francis callously dismissed accusations against Barros as “slander,” seemingly unaware that victims had placed Barros at the scene of Karadima’s crimes.

https://apnews.com/07e48f9e01c54ec496397f68bea5d30a/AP-Exclusive:-Despite-denial,-Pope-got-abuse-victim's-letter?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=AP

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Pope Accuses Chileans of Slander

Backing up Bishop Barros, accused of knowing his mentor's sex crimes - "Not a single piece of evidence"

Iquique (kath.net/KAP) Pope Francis has defended the Chilean Bishop Juan Barros, who was attacked in connection with an abuse scandal. There is "not a single piece evidence" against him, said Francis on his last visit to Chile on Thursday. "Everything is slander, is that clear?" Said the Pope. Francis spoke at a service in Iquique. It was the final Mass of his four-day visit to Chile.

"On the day on when I am presented with proof against Bishop Barros, I will speak," said Francis on the question of a local reporter. Barros is accused of having known of sexual offenses of the priest Fernando Karadima. There is no evidence to date.

The now 87-year-old Karadima, once one of Chile's most prominent Catholic clergy, was convicted of abuse in 2011. Barros was one of the spiritual disciples of Karadima. Pope Francis appointed Barros in early 2015 from the chief military bishop to the shepherd of the small diocese of Osorno in southern Chile. Francis’ personnel decision also drew criticism.

The debate over Barros and his appearances at events with Francis lasted throughout the Pope’s stay in Chile.

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
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Cardinal Müller: "End with the Cliche of a Reforming Pope and Anti-Reform Resistance"

(Rome) Cardinal Gerhard Mueller, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine and the Faith, is visibly angry. He had had several occasions to do this in recent times. It is not always possible for him to react. He does not accept everything silently. Now he has reacted to the resignation of Marie Collins.

The resignation of the Irish citizen, Marie Collins as a memeber of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors was reproached by some of the media in an accusation against the Congregation for the Faith, led by Cardinal Prefect Müller. That was astonishing. Müller is known for a practice of zero tolerance. It was a hard indictment that he had hindered the work of the anti-pedophile commission. It is an accusation that does not want to match the facts.

"Fake News" from and about the Vatican

The presentation by the media, out of agency reports, however, was one-sided. The resignation had been properly exploited in order to put the position of Cardinal Müller and his Congregation in a bad light on such a delicate subject. The "evil Congregation of the Faith" is a stereotype, which not a few frequently want to willingly believe. The context of the "evil Congregation of Doctrine and the Faith" and the hindrance of the persecution of pedophile clerics and anti-pedophile prevention are all the more a scandalous mixture. Only, this is just not right. They are a lame media, or in other words, fake news, as they are so fond of saying. Coincidence, bad research, disinformation, attempted influence in inner-church affairs?

The line of zero tolerance, which Cardinal Müller pursues in terms of sexual child abuse, is authentic. It is different with the course of Pope Francis. Those who have good contacts with close papal-dignitaries or the pope himself are treated more gently than those who do not have these contacts. The key word Don Mercedes should suffice to name this line Of double standard. The dismissal of three members of the Congregation of the Congregation of the Congregation, which the Pope himself ordered, and which was enforced against the will of Cardinal Mueller, is also connected with the subject. Two of the three dismissed were concerned with the prosecution of clerical offenders, and their dismissal was not because they had a double standard. They represented the null-tolerance line of Cardinal Mueller, still holding to that which had been issued  by Pope Benedict XVI.

Cardinal Müller's Defense - The Case of the Chilean Bishop

Cardinal Müller can not publicly argue a series of connections to his own justification and the protection of his dicastery, because they could appear as a criticism of Pope Francis. Nevertheless, he did not want to take the attacks sitting down and formulated a defense. He criticized the criticism of the resigned Marie Collins, who had been chastised by the media for the Congregation, with the remark that the "Anti-Abuse Commission had so far only asked the Congregation for the dispatch of letters." In plain words, what impediment should have taken place if the Commission did not want anything from the Congregation, and therefore nothing could have been rejected.

The concrete reason for Collins's resignation, who herself had even been abused as a child, is the case of the Chilean bishop who had himself demanded Collins' resignation. Since this was not done after repeated requests, she took her own step to protest according to this threat. However, the bishop's benefactor is not the Congregation of Faith, but  Pope Francis himself.  The bishop concerned is Juan de la Cruz Barros Madrid, the Bishop of the Chilean diocese. Francis himself had appointed him Bishop of Osorno in 2015. Immediately, victim organizations were indignant at the appointment. However, Francis stood by Bishop Barroso Madrid, and in Rome, he even assured the Chilean faithful who wanted to bring to this to his attention (see The Bishop of Osorno has a super lawyer, Pope Francis, including a video of the correction). The bishop is not accused of sexual abuse, but a priest, Fernando Karadima, who is very well known in Chile.

Cardinal Müller's more fundamental criticism: "end with the stereotype"

The defense of Müller is thus made clearer in a further sentence, when he attacks a common stereotype: "With this stereotype that the pope stands on one side and the resistors on the other." Thus, the Cardinal already cited Matteo Matzuzzi in the Sunday edition of Il Foglio  in its title.

The fact that Cardinal Müller mingled his statement by no means only in the matter of the anti-pedophile commission is evident from his choice of words. The quotation goes back to an interview of the Cardinal Prefect with Gian Guido Vecchi of the Corriere della Sera. Müller had said:

"I think that this stereotype should be brought to an end, the idea that on the one hand is a pope who wants reform, and on the other a group of adversaries who want to block it."

The words could also be translated so as to recognize their explosive nature. It is probably due to the conflict over the anti-pedophile commission, but it can also be read in a general context. "End with the stereotype that this pope is on the side of the good and the resistance is on the side of the evil."

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: MiL
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
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Franciscan Appointee Resists Media Storm in Chile

Edit: he's not going anywhere.

VATICAN CITY, Feb 7 (Reuters) - A man who says he was sexually abused by a priest on Sunday delivered two letters addressed to Pope Francis from Chilean Catholics asking him to remove a Chilean bishop accused of protecting a notorious pedophile.

Juan Carlos Cruz delivered the letters with Peter Saunders, a prominent and outspoken British member of a papal advisory commission on sexual abuse by the clergy. Saunders on Saturday refused to step down despite a no-confidence vote, and said only the pope could dismiss him.

The letters were left for Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston, the president of the commission, at a Rome guest house where the commission was meeting. O'Malley was asked to give them to the pope, Saunders and Cruz said.

http://m.aol.com/article/2016/02/07/chilean-alleges-sex-abuse-cover-up-asks-pope-to-sack-bishop/21309129/

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