Bishop Juan Barros Madrid and the protest at his installation in Osorno – March 21st 2015
In a telephone interview with NCR on Thursday, Marie Collins, Irish member of the Vatican sexual abuse commission who is also a survivor, has called on Pope Francis to remove Bishop Juan Barros Madrid, recently installed in extraordinary circumstances as head of the diocese of Osorno, Chile.
“As a survivor, I’m very surprised at the appointment in Chile because it seems to go against … what the Holy Father has been saying about not wanting anyone in positions of trust in the church who don’t have an absolutely 100 percent record of child protection,” said Collins.
Bishop Juan Barros Madrid was installed Saturday March 21st as head of the diocese of Osorno, amid protests in the cathedral. Chilean survivors accuse Barros of covering up abuse by Fr. Fernando Karadima, a once-renowned spiritual leader and key Chilean church figure who was found guilty by the Vatican in 2011 of sexually abusing minors, when Barros was a priest.
Click here to read full NCR report.
Click here for John Allen’s comment on this important matter: ‘Pope Francis may be nearing a tipping point on sexual abuse’.