Pope accepts resignations of three bishops

Victims of a sexual abuse scandal by clerics in Chile’s Roman Catholic Church applauded Pope Francis’ decision yesterday to accept the resignations of three bishops – including a prelate at the centre of allegations of sexual abuse, cover-ups and impunity.

Anti-abuse activists called the move the Vatican’s first concrete step in the South American country to purge a corrupt church hierarchy implicated in decades of sexual mistreatment and official stonewalling.

The sex abuse scandal is among the most challenging issues facing Francis, who has said he felt ‘‘pain and shame’’ about the church’s failure for decades to confront cases of abuse by priests that have come from across the globe.

All of Chile’s 33 active bishops offered their resignations last month in an extraordinary act as part of the fallout from the scandal. But the pope had not responded officially to the offer until yesterday, when he accepted the resignation of the three prelates.

The highest-profile of those leaving his post was Bishop Juan Barros of Osorno, 61.

In 2015, Francis appointed Barros as bishop of the diocese of Osorno in southern Chile, despite fierce objections from abuse survivors and others who accused Barros of ignoring reports of alleged sexual misconduct by Father Fernando Karadima.

Karadima, a charismatic cleric who was a mentor for Barros and other priests, was sentenced by the church in 2011 to a lifetime of penance and prayer for the sex crimes he is accused of. – TNS