Juan Ignacio Gonzalez, Bishop of San Bernardo, meets reporters at the Vatican, Monday, May 14, 2108. Chile's Catholic bishops say they are open to whatever Pope Francis proposes to overhaul the Chilean church devastated by a clergy sex abuse and cover-up scandal, including the removal of bishops, reforms of seminaries and paying financial reparation to victims. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
May 17, 2018 - 11:08 AM
VATICAN CITY - The Latest on Pope Francis and the Chilean priest sex abuse scandal (all times local):
8 p.m.
Pope Francis has wrapped up his emergency summit with Chile's bishops by thanking them for their "full willingness" to do whatever it takes to recover from a cleric sex abuse and coverup scandal.
Francis bid farewell to each of the 34 bishops from Chile amid indications that many heads are going to roll after four days of meetings and prayer.
Vatican television showed each bishop thanking Francis at the end of their final meeting. The only one Francis is shown kissing on each cheek was Bishop Juan Barros, the man at the centre of the scandal.
In a letter given to each bishop, Francis said he had already apologized to the victims he had discredited and said the Chilean bishops themselves had joined in "with the firm aim of repairing the wounds."
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6 p.m.
The Vatican investigator sent to take testimony from Chilean sex abuse victims said Thursday the Holy See is "making history" with Pope Francis' emergency summit of the Chilean hierarchy.
The Rev. Jordi Bertomeu, a Spaniard in the Vatican office that handles abuse cases, told reporters he expected "important" measures to be taken to try to repair the Chilean church.
"What is sure is that we are facing a very, very particular moment for the universal church, not only for Chile," he said outside the priests' residence where the Chilean bishops are staying. "It's not normal to call here an entire bishops' conference. Therefore, if I were you, I would expect measures and conclusions that will be important."
Francis summoned the Chilean bishops' conference to Rome for four days of meetings and prayer after admitting that he had made "grave errors in judgment" in the case of a Chilean bishop accused of witnessing and ignoring abuse.
News from © The Associated Press, 2018