Pope Francis has admitted that he made grave mistakes in his handling of clergy sexual abuse in Chile, telling the country's bishops in a letter that he feels pain and shame.
In an extraordinary public letter released by the Vatican Wednesday, Francis summoned all of Chile's bishops to the Vatican for an emergency meeting in the coming weeks to discuss the scandal.
In the three-page letter in Spanish, the head of the Roman Catholic Church also invited the victims he had once doubted to Rome to seek their forgiveness personally.
Francis blamed a lack of truthful and balanced information'' for his failure in judging the case of Bishop Juan Barros, a protege of Chile's most notorious predator priest, the Rev. Fernando Karadima. Francis strongly defended the bishop during his January visit to Chile despite accusations by victims that Barros had witnessed and ignored their abuse.
In Chile and during an airborne press conference returning to Rome, Francis accused the victims of calumny'' for pressing their case against Barros, demanded they present proof'' of their claims and revealed he had twice rejected Barros' resignation. I am convinced he is innocent,'' the pope insisted.
The change in the pope's thinking comes after a visit to Chile by one of the Vatican's most experienced sexual abuse investigators, Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta. The letter makes no mention of Barros' future.
