For the remarks made last week while visiting Chile, Pope Francis has apologized for defending Bishop Juan Barros accused of covering up sexual abuses.
While speaking journalists on board a flight heading back to Rome, the Pontiff said he released how hurtful his words were to many.
He has earlier said that victims were committing slander by accusation Bishop Barros. Prompting criticism from his own underlings as Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston said, victims of sexual abuse committed by Catholic priests, feel abandoned by the Holy Father.
”I apologized to them if I hurt them without realising it, but it was a wound that I inflicted without meaning to, it pains me very much.” the Pope is quoted as saying those words.
It’s unorthodox for a Pope to apologize, but Francis saw the need to make up for brushing off those allegations made by victims of sexual abuse in Chile. And the coverup of these crimes by Bishop Juan Barros.
By challenging victims to bring proof, the Sovereign Pontiff realized his choice of words came across as a slap in the face but the Pope has now apologized for using those words.
The head of the Roman Catholic church continues to hold the opinion that no evidence has emerged to support those charges brought against the Chilean Bishop.
Neba Benson,
BaretaNews Foreign Correspondent/Analyst
