Por segundo día consecutivo, el obispo Juan Barros, señalado como encubridor de un cura abusador, participó de la misa que el papa Francisco celebró en Temuco, al sur de Chile, y aseguró que él "no fue testigo" de los abusos atribuidos al sacerdote Fernando Karadima.
The bishop of Osorno, Juan Barros (C), takes part in an open-air mass celebrated by Pope Francis (L) at Maquehue airport in Temuco, 800 km south of Santiago, on January 17, 2018.
Pope Francis arrived in the heartland of the Mapuche, Chile's largest indigenous group, which complains of discrimination and abuse and is seeking the return of ancestral lands now in private hands. The visiting Pontiff will pay a short visit to Temuco to make direct contact with Mapuche leaders after presiding over a huge open air mass.
/ AFP PHOTO / Claudio Reyes
"Ahora vamos a entrar a una misa que esperamos sea muy linda y que escuchemos todos el mensaje del Papa que es el mensaje de Jesús", dijo inicialmente tratando de evadir la requisitoria del grupo de periodistas que lo aguardaba en Aeródromo Maquehue.
Bishop Juan Barros, second from right, arrives to attend a Mass celebrated by Pope Francis at the Maquehue Air Base in Temuco, Chile, Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2018. Many Chileans are furious over Francis’ 2015 decision to appoint Barros, a bishop close to the Rev. Fernando Karadima, who the Vatican found guilty in 2011 of abusing dozens of minors over decades. Barros has always denied he knew what Karadima was doing when he was the priest’s protege, a position that many Chileans have a hard time believing. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Tras las insistencia, Barros accedió a referirse brevemente al tema. "Yo he dicho muchas veces que no he sido testigo de eso y les pido por favor que me dejen tranquilo", lanzó.
Protesters demonstrate against the Rev. Fernando Karadima, and his protege Juan Barros, bishop of Osorno, as Pope Francis rides past on his way to celebrates Mass at the Maquehue Airport in Temuco, Chile, Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2018. Chile's church has yet to recover its credibility following the scandal over Karadima, Chile's most notorious pedophile priest. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)
Una de las víctimas de Karadima, Juan Carlos Cruz, aseguró hace dos años a un medio chileno que Juan Barros "estaba parado a nuestro lado cuando Karadima nos abusaba".
