Pope Francis will meet with victims of a Chilean priest who is accused of sexually abusing them, and others, on April 28 and 29. The three victims who denounced the sexual abuse will stay at the Vatican, according to Associated Press.
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Juan Carlos Cruz, one of the surviving victims, said he and his colleagues had agreed to Pope Francis' invitation to come to the Vatican so that he could personally apologize for having discredited them during his recent trip to Chile.
During a telephone interview Carlos Cruz said the three men would not allow the meeting to become a public relationship coup for the Catholic Church. He said he would tell Pope Francis of the “horror of abuse and the horror of the cover-up” that Catholic church leaders have subjected them to over decades as well as being decredited and defmaed publicly by church officials.
Carlos Cruz also said he would tell Pope Francis to sack those "toxic" bishops who covered up the assaults. "I would say 'hold these bishops accountable, fire a few of them, if not many of them, but fire them and not give them a cushy job here at the Vatican."
Earlier this month, Pope Francis admitted making grave errors regarding the child sex abuse scandal in Chile's Catholic church and promised to meet with victims at the Vatican to apologize to them personally.
In a letter read by Secretary-General of the Episcopal Conference of Chile Fernando Ramos, the pontiff said: "I have made serious errors of judgment and perception of the situation, especially due to lack of truthful and balanced information.
"I apologize to all those I have offended and I hope to be able to do it personally in the coming weeks, in the meetings I will have."
The pope's admission comes as the months-long investigation into Archbishop Juan Barros, accused of covering up a pedophile ring run by his mentor Fernando Karadima in a Santiago diocese during the 1990s, reaches a conclusion. Karadima was found guilty of molestation by the church in 2011 and expelled.