Originally sentenced to a life of prayer and penance for sexual abuse of minors, Karadima has now been defrocked, in what the Vatican said was an invocation of the pope's "supreme" power.
Rome - "I apologize to all those I have offended," Francis wrote in a letter to Chile's bishops, adding that he plans to apologize personally to some of the survivors who gave testimony.
A Chilean cardinal and member of Pope Francis' advisory Council of Cardinals has sent a letter to the presidents of various Latin American bishops' conferences to rebut media reports that the pope's visit to Chile in January was a failure.
Pope Francis revealed in a meeting with confreres of his Jesuit order last month that he meets with survivors of sexual abuse on a nearly weekly basis, according to a newly released transcript.
We say: Francis has an ambitious reform agenda for the church, an agenda he believes he was elected to implement. His actions in Chile in January weakened his reform efforts. If he can't fix this, his larger agenda will be in jeopardy.
Juan Carlos Cruz is still speaking out about abuse he suffered from a Chilean priest — and about cover-up by church leaders there, despite the pope's accusations that abuse survivors are guilty of "calumny."
Distinctly Catholic: I confess I cannot make heads or tails of Pope Francis' comments at the press conference aboard the flight back to Rome, regarding allegations against Bishop Juan Barros Madrid.
We say: Unfortunately, Pope Francis' defense of Chilean Bishop Juan Barros Madrid is only the latest in a number of statements he has made in his nearly five-year papacy that have hurt survivors, and the whole body of the church.
NCR Today: Francis' harsh and dismissive words for his Chilean critics could portend a major stumbling block: an inability to face clergy sexual abuse and cover-up when it hits home.