VATICAN CITY
Daily Mail (UK)
By Philip Pullella
VATICAN CITY, Feb 7 (Reuters) – A man who says he was sexually abused by a priest on Sunday delivered two letters addressed to Pope Francis from Chilean Catholics asking him to remove a Chilean bishop accused of protecting a notorious paedophile.
Juan Carlos Cruz delivered the letters with Peter Saunders, a prominent and outspoken British member of a papal advisory commission on sexual abuse by the clergy. Saunders on Saturday refused to step down despite a no-confidence vote, and said only the pope could dismiss him.
The letters were left for Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, the president of the commission, at a Rome guest house where the commission was meeting. O’Malley was asked to give them to the pope, Saunders and Cruz said.
The letters involve Juan Barros, who was installed last year as bishop of Osorno. The papal appointment outraged many parishioners, national legislators and abuse victims who said Barros had protected a priest accused of having been one of the nation’s most notorious sexual predators.
The priest in question has denied he abused Cruz and the bishop has denied knowledge of any wrongdoing.
“The devastation that your decision has caused us, Pope Francis, cannot withstand any more silence or omission,” said one of the letters, signed by about 30 representatives of parishes in Osorno. “We have knocked on every door … and have received nothing but mockery.”
Cruz, 51, sent a copy of one of the Spanish-language letters along with a statement in English to reporters. The other was a private letter to the pope from clergy in Osorno, Cruz said.
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