Opposition to controversial Chilean bishop continues

July 09, 2015

The recent appointment of Bishop Juan Barros, who has been accused of covering up sexual abuse, has continued to generate intense opposition among many local clergy and laity in the rural Diocese of Osorno, Chile.

“I knew from private conversations with [Chilean] Cardinal Ricardo Ezzati Andrello and others of the extent of the Pope’s involvement in the decision and Ezzati’s own efforts to get him to rescind it,” Austen Ivereigh, author of a biography of Pope Francis, wrote in the National Catholic Reporter.

“Francis refused,” continued Ivereigh, who alleged that the Pope “was not just well-informed, but wholly behind it.”

 

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Further information:

• Controversial Chilean bishop's appointment continues to divide diocese (National Catholic Reporter)
• Chile: priest to offer ‘Mass of hope’ in opposition to new bishop (CWN, 4/22)