MEXICO
La Prensa
Mexico City, Feb 16 (EFE).- Latin American and U.S. victims of child abuse by members of the clergy asked the pope in Mexico Monday that he go further than “good words” with his vow not to tolerate pedophilia in the church, and accused the pontiff of a “contradictory” position on the subject.
In an open letter sent to the Argentine pontiff, victims from countries including Mexico, Chile, Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Peru and the United States demanded that his statement to the effect that “there is absolutely no place in ministry for those who abuse minors” be translated into effective action.
The pope “is rewarding people who should be in jail,” former seminarian Juan Carlos Cruz told a press conference, referring to his own experience as victim of the Rev. Fernando Karadima, judged guilty by the Vatican in 2011 of sexually abusing minors.
About that matter, Cruz mentioned recent incidents in Chile, such as the elevation to cardinal of the archbishop of Santiago, Ricardo Ezzati, and the naming of Juan Barros as bishop of the diocese of Osorno, while both of them, according to the ex-seminarian, were covering up the Karadima case.
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