UNITED STATES
Washington Post
[with video]
By Adam Taylor October 8
Few global figures have enjoyed a more positive public image recently than Pope Francis, the remarkably popular leader of the Catholic Church. But a newly released video that appears to show the pope calling critics of the church’s actions in Chile “dumb” has prompted fresh protests in the Latin American country – and could also harm the pontiff’s reputation internationally.
The video, aired by a Chilean TV channel last week, was initially filmed at the Vatican in May. According to Catholic news Web site Crux, the video shows Jaime Coiro, a former spokesman for the Chilean Bishops Conference, greeting Francis in St Peter’s Square.
In the video, Francis talks about criticism that the Catholic church in Chile was facing at the time. The appointment of Bishop Juan Barros Madrid to the Osorno, Chile, diocese had drawn protests throughout the country due to accusations that Barros had helped cover up the sexual abuse of minors by his then-superior, the Rev. Fernando Karadima, and may have witnessed some of the abuse himself.
The Vatican found Karadima guilty of sexually abusing minors in 2011 and sentenced him to a “life of prayer and penitence.” While Barros spent more than 30 years working with Karadima, he has denied any cover-up, and the Vatican released a short statement offering a defense of the bishop’s appointment in March. The newly released video, however, shows Francis going much further – not only angrily defending Barros’s appointment, but seemingly insulting the intelligence of protesters.
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