VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican's sex-crimes expert is changing plans and will fly to New York to take in-person testimony from a Chilean sex-abuse victim whose pleas to be heard by Pope Francis were previously ignored.
The switch from a planned Skype interview came after The Associated Press reported that Francis received a letter in 2015 from Juan Carlos Cruz, a victim of Chile's most notorious pedophile priest. Cruz told the pope that one of the priest's proteges, Bishop Juan Barros, was present for his abuse and did nothing. Barros denied any wrongdoing.
The Vatican tapped Archbishop Charles Scicluna to go to Chile to take testimony about Barros last week. Originally, he was to interview Cruz via Skype.
Cruz told the AP that Scicluna has asked Tuesday to do the interview in person.
This story will be updated.
Cardinal Scicluna, Thank you for taking this journey for a face-to-face conversation with Juan Carlos Cruz. This is the right thing to do! On my very first day of teaching at a small, Catholic, mission school in Los Angeles, a 5th grade girl wrote in her notebook, to me, that she was being sexually abused by her uncle. I went into the school office, picked-up the telephone and dialed, 9-1-1. The police arrived with sirens blazing. The child was placed in a safe environment. I did not seek anyone's permission to do this, as I took an oath to protect children when I became a teacher. May Juan Carlos Cruz feel some sense of justice and peace in his soul. And, may the good LORD give you the strength to provide Juan with a true sense that his voice has finally been heard.