At Roman Noon this Monday – all of five months since the pontiff's last public defense of Bishop Juan Barros – Francis' stunning turnabout came full circle as he accepted the 61 year-old prelate's resignation from the helm of the diocese of Osorno, ending a three-year tenure marked on the ground by protests and resistance from its outset. (Above, Barros is seen caught in the midst of demonstrators at his 2015 installation.)
On his transfer to the remote, southern church from Chile's military ordinariate, Barros was implicated by the victims of the country's most notorious predator, Fr Fernando Karadima, of having witnessed their abuse as a young priest in Santiago in the 1980s. Over the last six weeks, the Pope has invited groups of Karadima survivors for two weekends' worth of talks at the Domus.
Having previously submitted his resignation twice only for it to be declined by Francis, while Barros had become the most prominent target of calls for his removal – all as the Osorno cathedral has been occupied by "sit-in" vigils since his arrival – today's departures did not extend to the handful of other Karadima proteges who've since become diocesan bishops. Then again, the trio of moves announced today are only expected to be the first strike of an ongoing clearout that, according to some projections, will eventually see roughly half of the nation's 33-man active bench leave office.
Alongside Barros, the two other prelates relieved of their posts – Archbishop Christián Caro Cordero of Puerto Montt and Bishop Gonzalo Duarte García de Cortazar of Valparaiso, the country's second-largest diocese – are both over the retirement age of 75, thus rendering their participation in the en bloc resignation a purely symbolic act.
While a Chilean priest recently said he had lodged an allegation of Duarte's complicity in "sexual abuse, abuse of conscience and power" with the country's Nuncio in 2008 and never received a response, the Pope's move to include Caro in the first wave of the ousters is especially notable on two fronts: first, as metropolitan of the province which includes Osorno, the archbishop has had a degree of supervisory authority over Barros and the suffragan diocese. In the face of the protests, Caro proved one of Barros' most resolute defenders in the hierarchy, openly attacking the Osorno demonstrators and maintaining as recently as last month that, although the scandals presented a serious issue for the Chilean church, the ongoing tide of revelations and outrage was not to be considered "a crisis."
Given both the delicate situation and the separate need to reconstruct the country's apparatus for episcopal appointments in light of the implication of the current Nuncio, Archbishop Ivo Scapolo, in the handling of events, alongside today's resignations Francis named apostolic administrators for the three vacant dioceses. As two of the temporary picks are auxiliaries of Santiago, the choices further indicate that not all of the bishops' resignations will be accepted, not to mention that it will almost certainly be a long wait until permanent successors are appointed. (Unlike elected diocesan administrators, as an apostolic administrator's mandate derives from papal appointment, the latter may exercise the full authority of a diocesan bishop for the duration of their mission.)
As previously noted, even with Barros' departure from center stage, the Chilean church's three most critical personnel decisions remain pending before Francis: a new archbishop of Santiago, the country's most senior post, where Cardinal Riccardo Ezzati is well over a year past 75; a new Nuncio to replace the tainted Scapolo and manage the bench's rebuilding, and perhaps most prominently, the fate of the retired Santiago Cardinal Francisco Errazuriz Ossa – long an outspoken opponent of Karadima's victims – who maintains his seat on the Pope's "C9" group of lead advisers.
On the latter piece, the 25th meeting of the "Gang of Nine" began today at the Domus. Whether Errazuriz was in attendance won't be disclosed by the Vatican until the gathering's close on Wednesday.
Among other recent developments, following the bishops' return from their three-day May summit with Francis, the local landscape was further roiled by the suspension of 15 priests amid fresh allegations in the diocese of Rancagua, whose ordinary, Bishop Alejandro Goic, happens to be the chairman of the Chilean church's commission on sexual abuse.
While Barros issued a statement seeking forgiveness for his "limitations" and "what I couldn't accomplish," the de facto face of Karadima's victims, Juan Carlos Cruz, issued the following response shortly after the resignations were announced:
Having been among the first group of survivors to meet with Francis in late April, in other statements Cruz has used the phrase "Que se vayan todos" in reference to the bishops – that is, "They all should go."Today begins a new day for the Catholic Church in Chile and hopefully the world. @Pontifex has started the firing of bishops who are abusers or have covered up. We hope this is the beginning of the end of this culture of abuse and cover up in the Church. Emotional but great day!— Juan Carlos Cruz Ch. (@jccruzchellew) June 11, 2018
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