Pope Francis Calls People Protesting Bishop for Sex Abuse "Dumb"
A new controversy is surrounding Pope Francis after a video in which he calls people protesting a bishop accused of protecting priests who molested children, "dumb" has surfaced.
The video shows the Pope addressing a group of tourists in St. Peter's square and he says that people protesting a bishop he appointed in the Chilean city of Osorno are dumb because they have been misled by leftists and and politicians, according to The New York Times.
The bishop, Juan Barros, is accused of protecting priests who sexually assaulted young boys, particularly Rev. Fernando Karadima, who the Vatican found guilty of such offenses, and was sentenced to a life of solitude and penance in 2011.
Some of Karadima's victims claim that Barros witnessed and knew of the abuses. They say that when Barros served as secretary to the Archbishop of Santiago, one of the country's highest Catholic offices, he purposely destroyed letters reporting Karadima's abuses to the Archbishop at the time, Juan Francisco Fresno.
The video in question was shot in May by a tourist from Argentina, but was only released on Friday by a Chilean television network.
The video is the second controversy to surround the Pope in recent weeks as progressives inspired by his messages of social, economic, and environmental justice were disappointed when Francis met with Kim Davis, a Kentucky court official who went to jail because of her refusal to issue marriage licenses to gay couples.
The Pope reportedly offered her words of encouragement. The Pope's comments in the video also call into question just how serious he is about ending the culture of abuse and impunity that has gotten the Catholic Church in so much trouble over the past decade.
