Pope accepts Barros resignation (2)

(ANSA) - Vatican City, June 11 - The Vatican said Monday that Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Monsignor Juan Barros Madrid, the bishop of Osorno who was at the centre of a child sex abuse scandal in Chile.
    Barros has been accused of covering for Chile's worst predator priest, Father Fernando Karadima.
    The pope irked victims by saying during a recent trip to Chile that there was not a "shred of proof" against Barros.
    He later apologised to victims, following criticism from Cardinal Sean O'Malley, a Vatican pointman on clerical sex abuse.
    The pope said sorry for unwittingly "wounding" Karadima's victims who say Barros, one of the charismatic Karadima's proteges', shielded the abuser from justice.
    All of Chiles bishops resigned en masse last month following the scandal. The Vatican said the pope had also accepted the resignation of two other bishops in Chile - Msgr. Gonzalo Duarte García De Cortázar, of the diocese of Valparaiso, and Msgr. Cristián Caro Cordero, of the diocese of Puerto Montt - due to their age.