Pope to Hold Meeting With Chilean Bishops to Address Sex Abuse Scandal

Pope Francis plans to have the bishops of Chile gather at the Vatican to deal with a recent sex abuse and cover-up scandal among its ranks.

In a publicly letter released earlier this week, the head of the Roman Catholic Church expressed his intention to hold a meeting with the bishops regarding the scandal.

“I will convoke you to Rome to discuss the conclusions of the mentioned visit and my conclusions. I have thought of this meeting as a fraternal moment, without prejudices or pre-conceived ideas, with the sole objective of having the truth in our lives shine,” wrote Francis, as translated by the Catholic news site Zenit.

In his letter to the bishops, Francis also acknowledged that there were “serious mistakes” on his part regarding the “assessment and perception of the situation, especially because of a lack of truthful and balanced information.”

“From now on I ask forgiveness from all those I offended and I hope to do so personally in the coming weeks, in the meetings I will have with representatives of the persons interviewed,” the pope added.

At the center of the scandal is the Rev. Fernando Karadima, who in 2011 was found guilty by a Vatican investigation of abusing several teenage boys. For his part, Karadima has denied the accusations.

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Source: Christian Post