The Chronicles of Chile: The Pope, the Pedophile and the Victims

Not a spinoff of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. But, far worse than the great work of fiction (with some reference to the Biblical narrative, so they said) by C.S Lewis. If you are unaware of recent events that concerned the pope in the media, then here is a basic rundown of what happened and what the family of the victims had to hear from their superlative figure that was verbalized.

Last week, the pope released some controversial and damning remark towards the victims of a specific clerical sex abuse case in Chile. The pope was seen as defending a bishop accused of covering up sexual assaults by his mentor. Instead of directing his disgust towards (Bishop) Juan Barros and (Father) Fernando Karadima, the pope took a 360° dive into a weird cesspit and verbally accused the victims of 'committing slander' instead. A shameful vituperation and a major let down to Christians all over the World. Instead of being a vocalist and follower of Jesus of Nazareth, the pope decided to go against the grain by pulverizing the weak and downtrodden. One might call it epoch-making perhaps.

"There is not one single piece of proof against him (Juan Barros). It is all slander. Is that clear?" — Pope Francis

The victims are accusing Juan Barros of covering up the crimes of his mentor, Fernando Karadima, who is considered Chile's most revered and powerful priest. He was declared guilty by the Vatican in November 2010 of sexual abuse of minors. He was assigned or served to do a life of prayer and penance. One should be wondering by now on whether this is the harshest sentences ever given to an individual who committed sex abuse in the face of history?! In the real world, the person would have gotten a much harsher sentence. Does the Vatican have a perception that sex abuse is not an offence that should be taken seriously? One has to ask.

The pope should man up and act like a true vicar of Christ by being non-partisan, non-biased and not downplaying the victims. The decades of clerical sex abuse case around the World with hundreds and thousands of open, hidden, and cold cases will forever be reprehensible and for that matter has tarnished the Christian portfolio. The pope should show some shame and get down to the assignment of cleaning up the 'Vatican & Co.' immediately.

Enough demonizing and mortifying the victims. The pope should show some shame.

References:

Originally published on my old self-hosted blog at sprybear.com

Photo by Marcus Dall Col / Unsplash