Vatican City, May 2, 2018 / 11:13 am (CNA/EWTN News).- After meeting with Pope Francis over the weekend, Chilean survivors of clerical sexual abuse said the pontiff was open, sympathetic and deeply impacted by the situation, at one point voicing sorrow for having been “part of the problem.”
Juan Carlos Cruz, a victim of Chilean abuser Fr. Fernando Karadima who met with Pope Francis privately Saturday, said he spoke to the pontiff for at least three hours, and found him “sincere, attentive and deeply apologetic for the situation.”
“For me, the pope was contrite, he was truly sorry,” Cruz said. “I felt also that he was hurting, which for me was very solemn…because it’s not often that the pope says sorry to you…he said, ‘I was part of the problem, I caused this and I am apologize.’”
Cruz was joined by fellow abuse survivors James Hamilton and Jose Andres Murillo, each of whom suffered abuse at the hands Chilean priest Fernando Karadima, who in 2011 was found guilty by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of sexually abusing several minors during the 1980s and 1990s, and subsequently sentenced to a life of prayer and solitude.
Chilean civil authorities investigated Karadima but ultimately dropped charges since his crimes were beyond the statute of limitations.
Hamilton, Cruz and Murillo were invited to come to the Vatican after the pope received a 2,300-page report from Maltese Archbishop Charles Scicluna, highly regarded as the Vatican’s top abuse investigator, who had traveled to the United States and Chile in February to investigate allegations of cover-up in the Chile case.
Initially the investigation centered on Bishop Juan Barros of Osorno, who was appointed to the diocese in 2015 and who has been accused by Cruz and several others of not only covering up Karadima’s abuses, but at times also participating.
Allegations were also made against three other bishops – Andrés Arteaga, Tomislav Koljatic and Horacio Valenzuela – whom Karadima’s victims accuse of also covering the abuser’s crimes.
While on the ground, Scicluna interviewed some 64 people, most of whom were victims, but the scale of the investigation went beyond Barros. The final report is said to be much more extensive, including details from other cases.
Pope Francis had previous defended Bishop Barros, saying he had received no evidence of the bishop’s guilt, and called accusations against him “calumny” during a trip to Chile in January. However, just days after he made the comments, news broke that Cruz in 2015 had sent the pope an 8-page letter through the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors with his testimony detailing Barros’ presence and involvement in the abuse.
After receiving Archbishop Scicluna’s report, Francis issued a major “mea culpa” April 11, saying he had made “serious errors in the judgment and perception of the situation, especially due to a lack of truthful and balanced information.”
He invited Cruz, Hamilton and Murillo to meet with him privately at the Vatican, and summoned all of Chile’s 32 bishops to Rome in the third week of May, where they will discuss the conclusions of Scicluna’s report as well the pope’s own conclusions on the matter.
Each of the three men met with Pope Francis individually with no time limit over the weekend, and then again as a group on Monday.
In a joint statement issued May 2, the survivors said they have been treated as “enemies” of the Church for nearly 10 years for their outspoken criticism of abuse and cover-up in the Church, but that this weekend’s meetings allowed them to meet “the friendly face of the Church, completely different form the one we had seen before.”
Pope Francis, they said, asked for forgiveness in his name and on behalf of the entire universal Church.
“We were able to speak frankly and respectfully with the pope,” they said, explaining that major themes brought up included not only sexual abuse, but also cover-up and abuse of power, which they said are not isolated to Chile, but are “an epidemic” that has affected thousands of people throughout the global Church.
Despite their abuse, the survivors said they have met many priests and men and women religious who are fighting for justice, and called them “courageous” people who have made progress in the fight against abuse and cover-up.
Pope Francis, they said, was “very attentive, receptive and very empathetic during the intense and long hours of conversation.”
During the audiences, the pope also asked the men for their opinion on both “specific and theoretical” aspects of the issue, and asked to stay in touch with them to hear their thoughts and recommendations for the future.
The victims also called for action, saying that the Church “has the duty to become an ally and a guide in the global fight against abuse, and a refuge for the victims,” something that they said is not sufficiently happening today.
“We hope that Pope Francis transforms his loving words of forgiveness into exemplary actions. Otherwise, all this will be in vain.”
In comments to the press during a May 2 news briefing on their meetings, the survivors unanimously said they believed the pope had been grossly misinformed about the situation by those around him, and was truly repentant for the mistakes he made.
Cruz said he didn’t ask about whether Francis had read his letter from 2015, but said he was able to communicate everything he had wanted during their face-to-face meeting.
“We spoke very frankly and very directly,” he said, adding that “it was clear that the pope was misinformed.”
Cruz said he told the pope that “it hurt tremendously” when he said their accusations against Barros were “calumny,” and told him to watch out for “these toxic people that surround him.”
In his comments to the press, Hamilton pinned a large part of the blame on Archbishop Ivo Scapolo, nuncio to Chile since 2011, and Chilean Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz, Archbishop Emeritus of Santiago and a member of Pope Francis’ council of cardinal advisors.
Hamilton said that Errazuriz failed to act upon the abuse reports he raised, despite being told by the Chilean Promoter of Justice that they were credible and should be followed up with canonical prosecution.
“So Cardinal Errazuriz was covering up for more than 5 years the criminal of Karadima and all of his acts,” Hamilton said.
After their conversations, Hamilton said he believes Francis is now well informed on the situation, which is why he asked for the visit. “Everybody deserves a second chance, especially in this case,” he said.
However, all three men stressed the importance of following up with action after the meetings.
Murillo told journalists that he does not see the trip as “a triumph,” but rather as “a step further in a process.”
“Even if we saw the forgiveness that Pope Francis asked of us,” he said, “we are waiting for actions. We are not here for public relations, we are here for actions.”
He described the trip as long and tiring, “because I constantly work with children who were victims of abuse [and] during this trip I thought of them, but not only – I thought of all minors and adolescents who suffer abuse…also from professors, at home, in athletic training…I continue to think of all of them and I have to say, I am truly tired.”
Murillo said he hopes to that legal action will be taken against the bishops guilty of cover-up in the Chile case.
“I hope the governments of the rest of the world begin to think first of the victims…so that these events don’t repeat themselves.”
[…]
We read: “…but the proposal [Mass with the pope] was nixed by the Vatican after considering the impact that President Biden receiving Holy Communion from the Pope would have on the discussions the USCCB is planning to have during their meeting starting Wednesday, June 16.”
Are we to understand from the presumptive CNA (?) that, except for the untimely optics, Pope Francis actually would have distributed the Eucharist to Biden? Really? Or, instead, maybe the decision was for the pope to NOT be seen withholding the Eucharist? I’d rather think that even the Vatican might have learned something from the photo-op, with the pope, given to LGBTQXYZ wonder-boy James Martin, S.J. (Sept. 30, 2019).
But, in all such cases, do we not long for the forthright model of Pope St. John Paul II? As when he visited Nicaragua in 1983 and openly scolded the kneeling priest, Ernesto Cardenal, on the Managua airport runway—for resisting his order to resign from the government: “Usted tiene que arreglar sus asuntos con la Iglesia” —”You must fix your affairs with the Church!”
Yes, not exactly the same situation now with Biden…Cardenal was a priest doubling as a government official, while Biden is a government official masquerading as a lay Catholic leader. But, still, of Eucharistic coherence—”You must fix your affairs with the Church!”
Of course, the who story was just a fabrication and so making such assumptions serves no purpose.
Your question – “Are we to understand from the presumptive CNA (?) that, except for the untimely optics, Pope Francis actually would have distributed the Eucharist to Biden?”
Your question sounds rhetorical to me, which is certainly justifiable, and this is kind of sad, but I see it like this – it’s a start. At the least the Pope realizes that this is a problem.
I’ll take this as a hopeful sign.
What a wonderful opportunity for our Pope and our President to have a one-on-one discussion on the status of the President’s soul! The Pope has a duty to help the President look at his soul and contemplate his destiny.
Yes, but honestly speaking, what is the statistical probability that that conversation will take place? Knowing Francis and Biden, I think zero is a good guess.
I hope the USCCB members will see this as the directive from Pope Francis to continue their discussion on Eucharistic coherence, which has been a settled matter for centuries. Both Canon Law and the Catechism of the Catholic Church are clear on the subject that Catholics in mortal sin (promoting abortion, gender fluidity, same sex marriage, etc.) should not present themselves for Holy Communion. Young children are taught this in preparation for the Sacrament. It is really a fundamental teaching that needs no further clarification. The bishops need to reinforce Catholic teaching again, because that’s the job with which they’ve been entrusted. Be shepherds. The sheep need you to guide them in the right paths to the field of eternal life.
What discussion?? We’ve had dialogue about this whole abortion and Catholic politician thing since 1973! How much more is there to be said, oops excuse me, to be dialogued? Our bishops do not want to touch this issue. The USCCB is just preparing to kick(again) that can down the road, research it again, create committees, let’s not be hasty kind of thing as pro-abortion Catholic politicians continue time and again to rub more feces into the faces of the bishops. The only reason Pelosi, Biden et al continue to defy the Church is because they know they can and nothing will be done about it.
For one Beaulieu refers to mere optics related to the upcoming USCCB discussions. A desultory rationale. Another, the Vatican is doctrinally opposed. Then, another, would an affirmative be contrary to plan, that is if we, and there are others who perceive a conspiratorial strategy to change doctrine not abruptly rather painfully, inexorably slowly. If the reader is among the conspiratorialists [as the writer is after 8 years of observation] a Ja would for Vatican strategists be disastrous. Too soon evoking outcry, perhaps even waking up some clergy both low and high. So Nicht or Nix is certainly according to plan lulling the somnolent to continue their peaceful repose. What, seriously speaking, most certainly should have been announced from the Vatican was reaffirmation of Catholic doctrine, that such a blasphemous act, a Pope giving communion to such a zealous public advocate of abortion and sexual depravity contradicts Eucharistic Cohesion. As well as moral sanity.
The Vicar of Ambiguity went some of the distance but he could have locked up a witness for the truth in one act. He never fails to fall short — at best.
Obviously if the Pope gives communion to Biden, he will violate Canon 915. If he refuses, he will alienate the SJW Bishops like Cupich and Tobin. So to avoid scandal and negative ramifications, he took a third option.
Come on man, no Biden at UND commencement, no Biden receiving the Eucharist from the Pope, I take these as wins for the Catholic faithful. Thank you Lord.
A stroll down memory lane – Biden was at the UND commencement in 2016 when he was VP and he received some sort of high award from them and a few weeks later he officiated at a same-sex ‘marriage’ on his website.
I’m with gka above. “Hope springs eternal in the human breast”.
With a prescript rejoinder explaining this was an erroneous report shows how the EWTN-owned Catholic News Agency is purveyor of fake news. It quickly crafted this report even though its source was unreliable just because this pictured President Biden in a negative light. CWR should be cautious in getting reports from CNA. This lying violates the 8th commandment.