Holy Father Pope Francis on June 11 , accepted the resignation of three Chilean bishops including the controversial Juan Barros following a child sex abuse scandal in Chile which has come to haunt his papacy. The entire Chilean delegation of bishops tendered its resignation to the Pontiff last month after a series of meetings at the Vatican.
Several members of the Chilean church hierarchy are accused by victims of ignoring and covering up child abuse by Chilean paedophile priest Fernando Karadima during the 1980s and 1990s. The announcement of Holy Father Pope Francis’s decision to accept the resignation was made in a Vatican statement.
In a letter to Chileans released at the end of last month, the pontiff voiced “shame” that the Catholic church failed “to listen and react in time” to the allegations of sexual abuse by Chilean clergy. He has since received two groups of Bishop Karadima’s victims at the Vatican.
