Pope Francis accepts resignation of three Chilean bishops after sex abuse scandal – and more are expected to go

Vatican says the move might only be the first as church tries to restore order in Chile, where cover-up of child sex abuses has roiled congregants

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Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of three Chilean bishops following sex abuse scandals and is said to be considering further actions. Photo: Reuters

Published: 12:12am, 12 Jun 2018Updated: 1:36am, 12 Jun 2018

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of three Chilean bishops following sex abuse scandals, including Bishop Juan Barros of Osorno, the city at the centre of the uproar, the Vatican said on Monday.

In an unprecedented move, all 34 Chilean bishops offered to resign en masse last month after attending a meeting with the pope over allegations of a cover-up of sexual abuse in the country’s archdioceses.

A Vatican official said that Monday’s move represented a first step towards re-ordering the battered Roman Catholic Church in Chile and that the pope was still considering the positions of the other prelates.

Pope Francis, seated, with the bishop of Osorno, Juan Barros, during an open-air mass in Temuco, Chile, on January 17. Barros is one of three bishops whose resignations the pope accepted on Monday following a sex abuse scandal in the Chilean church. Photo: AFP

Besides Barros, 61, the pope also agreed to the departures of Cristian Caro Cordero, bishop of Puerto Montt, and Gonzalo Duarte García de Cortazar, bishop of Valparaiso, who had both reached the customary retirement age of 75.

Church administrators were appointed to run all three dioceses.

Victims of the scandal hailed the removal of Barros, who has always denied allegations that he witnessed and covered up sexual abuse cases.