Bishop Juan Ignacio Gonzalez Errazuriz of San Bernardo, Chile, and Auxiliary Bishop Fernando Ramos Perez of Santiago, Chile, attend a press conference in Rome May 18. Bishop Gonzalez said every bishop in Chile offered his resignation to Pope Francis after a three-day meeting with him at the Vatican. (CNS/Paul Haring)
Under increasing scrutiny about the handling of clergy sexual abuse cases over decades, Chile's Catholic bishops said that Pope Francis' emotional meetings at the Vatican with three abuse victims "shows us the path that the Chilean Church is called to follow." Shortly after releasing this statement, the Chilean bishops in Rome announced they have submitted their resignations to Francis en masse and will await his decision for which of their dismissals he will accept.
On the show today:
- Joshua J. McElwee, Vatican correspondent
- Fr. James Connell, a retired priest in the Milwaukee Archdiocese, canon lawyer, and a founding member of Catholic Whistleblowers
Background reading:
- Backgrounder: What happened before Chile's bishops resigned
- While in Chile, Pope Francis defended his 2015 appointment of a Chilean bishop accused of covering-up sexual abuse
- Francis again defended Bishop Juan Barros Madrid on the papal plane home from Peru, calling claims against him "calumny"
- In early April, Francis admitted "serious mistakes" in his handling of Chile abuse cases
- Chilean abuse survivors await actions after "empathetic" meetings with the pope
- The Chilean bishops said the pope's meetings in Rome with survivors showed them the path to follow
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