Pope Francis was
reportedly informed of allegations of child sex abuse by the
clergy in Chile in 2015.
A victim of Father Fernando Karadima, a serial predator whose
abuse was covered up by the Chilean church, that year sent the
pope an eight-page letter about Bishop Juan Barros, who is
accused of witnessing and ignoring the abuse.
Francis recently said he was sending Archbishop Charles
Scicluna, a top child-abuse expert, to Chile to investigate the
accusations against Barros.
But during his recent trip to Chile and Colombia the pope
said there was no evidence against Barros, adding that victims
of the abuse had not come forward.
The letter sent by victim Juan Carlos Cruz.
The Associated Press reported that members of the Vatican's
Commission for the Protection of Minors told it that they
delivered the letter to the pope's top adviser on sex abuse,
Cardinal Sean O'Malley, in April 2015.
"When we gave him (O'Malley) the letter for the Pope, he
assured us he would give it to the pope and speak of the
concerns," Marie Collins, a former member of the commission at
the time, told AP.
"And at a later date, he assured us that that had been done."
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