Greg DalyThere are allegations that Bishop Barros helped cover up sexual abuse against minors
More than 650 people gathered at Chile’s Osorno cathedral to protest against the March 21 ordination of Juan Barros as diocesan bishop. Over 1,300 Catholics, including about 30 priests and deacons and 51 congress members, wrote to Pope Francis objecting to the ordination, following allegations that Bishop Barros helped cover up sexual abuse against minors committed by his onetime mentor, Fr Fernando Karadima.
Although criminal charges against Fr Karadima were thrown out because the statute of limitations had expired, the Vatican in 2011 found the then-81-year-old guilty of sex abuse and sentenced him to a life of penitence and prayer.
At least three survivors of Fr Karadima’s abuse say Dr Barros witnessed their molestation, but in a letter to diocesan clergy, Dr Barros denied this, saying, “I never had knowledge of, or could have imagined, the serious abuses that this priest committed against the victims”. The Holy See has not commented on the matter.