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News > Latin America

34 Chilean Bishops Offer Resignation Over Sexual Abuse Cover-Up

  • Chilean bishops Luis Fernando Ramos Perez and Juan Ignacio Gonzalez Errazuriz arrive for a news conference after a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican, May 18, 2018.

    Chilean bishops Luis Fernando Ramos Perez and Juan Ignacio Gonzalez Errazuriz arrive for a news conference after a meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican, May 18, 2018. | Photo: Reuters

Published 18 May 2018
Opinion

The sexual abuse scandal has devastated the credibility of the Church in the once mostly Catholic country.

In an unprecedented move, 34 Chilean bishops announced Friday that they had offered to resign en masse after attending a crisis meeting earlier this week with Pope Francis relating to the covering-up of sexual abuse in the South American country.

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Chile: Four Bishops Resign Over Sex Abuse as Papal Probe Ends

While it was not immediately clear if the pope would accept all or any of the resignations from the prelates, who hold all the top jobs in Chile's Roman Catholic Church, reports indicate the bishops would stay in their roles until the pope makes his decision.

"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 in a joint statement read out by a spokesman for the churchmen, Bishop Fernando Ramos.

"We want to ask forgiveness for the pain caused to the victims, to the pope, to the people of God and our country for the serious errors and omissions committed by us," the statement continued.

The bishops thanked the pope for his "brotherly correction" in their statement.

The sexual abuse scandal has devastated the credibility of the Church in the once mostly Catholic country. It has also hurt the Pope's image due to his staunch defense of Bishop Juan Barros, who had been accused of participating in the alleged cover-up. 

Accusers had said Barros covered for the Reverend Fernando Karadima, whom the Vatican found guilty of child sex abuse. The Pope later reversed his position on Barros.

The Vatican has declined to comment on the timing of any decision or the resignations themselves. A Church official said it was the first time the bishops of an entire country had offered to leave their posts in such a manner.

On Thursday, Barros along with bishops Tomislov Koljatic, Horacio Valenzuela and Monsignor Andres Arteaga offered their resignations ahead of Friday's statement from all the bishops.

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