Pope Francis has accused Chile’s bishops of destroying evidence of sex crimes
Francis said the entire Chilean church hierarchy was collectively responsible
In a 10-page document, he blasted their ‘grave defects’ in handling abuse cases
All 34 Chilean bishops who attended a crisis meeting this week with Pope Francis about the cover-up of sexual abuse in their country have offered their resignation.
The bishops also apologised to Chile, the victims of abuse and the pope for the scandal as they released a joint statement.
It was not immediately clear if the pope had accepted their resignation.
‘We have put our positions in the hands of the Holy Father and will leave it to him to decide freely for each of us,’ the bishops said.
Pope Francis has accused Chile’s bishops of destroying evidence of sex crimes, pressuring church lawyers to minimize accusations and of ‘grave negligence’ in protecting children from pedophile priests.
In a devastating 10-page document delivered to Chilean bishops during a summit this week, Francis said the entire Chilean church hierarchy was collectively responsible for ‘grave defects’ in handling abuse cases and the resulting loss of credibility that the Catholic Church has earned.
The document, reported by Chile’s T13 television and confirmed as authentic Friday by the Vatican, put mounting pressure on the bishops as a whole to resign given Francis told them that ‘no one can exempt himself and place the problem on the shoulders of the others.’
