(23 May 2018) Three of the five priests who were sexually and psychologically abused by the Reverend Fernando Karadima in Chile have spoken about their upcoming meeting with Pope Francis.
Francis will host them, as well as two clerics providing spiritual support and two lay people, at the Vatican hotel where he lives from 1-3 June, a sign he isn't finished hearing about the "system of abuse" that flourished in a parish that produced dozens of priests over the years.
"The invitation is to share our experience with us and to place that experience in front of him, with the wish to help the Holy Father and also future measures (the Vatican will take) after hearing our experiences," said Father Eugenio de la Fuente in Santiago on Wednesday.
The meetings with victims are part of Francis' effort to turn the Chilean church around after he dug himself into the deepest hole of his papacy in January by publicly defending a Chilean bishop accused by victims of having witnessed and ignored their abuse.
The victims were all parishioners in the El Bosque community of Karadima, a charismatic preacher who was protected by the church hierarchy because of his ability to find priestly vocations among Chile's wealthy, conservative elite. Over the years, his community produced some 30 priests and four bishops.
The Vatican in 2011 sentenced Karadima to a lifetime of penance and prayer for his crimes.
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