Pope Francis has defrocked a Chilean priest who was a central character in the global sex abuse scandal rocking his papacy, invoking his “supreme” authority to stiffen an earlier sentence because of the “exceptional amount of damage” the priest’s crimes had caused.
In a statement Friday, the Vatican said Francis had laicized 88-year-old Rev. Fernando Karadima, who was originally sanctioned in 2011 to live a lifetime of “penance and prayer” for having sexually abused minors in the upscale Santiago parish he ran.
The Vatican said Francis was doing so for “the good of the church.”
“It is without doubt an exceptional measure, but Karadima’s grave crimes have caused exceptional damage in Chile,” Vatican spokesman Greg Burke said.
The “penance and prayer” sanction has been the Vatican’s punishment of choice for elderly priests convicted of raping and molesting children. It has long been criticized by victims as too soft and essentially an all-expenses-paid retirement, and Karadima’s whistleblowers had pressed for it to be toughened.
A Start, Perhaps
The Pope defrocks a priest at the center of scandals.
Honestly, I'd prefer hearing that he put his efforts toward removing younger priests from positions of responsibility, influence, and contact. But this is good,
ReplyDeleteMaybe it's a start. Or maybe it's a sacrificial lamb. Time will tell.
ReplyDelete