Letter Suggests Pope Knew About Abuse Complaints, Despite Denials
Marie Collins said that We all felt that the Barros appointment had been a mistake, and when Juan Carlos told me he had been trying to be heard, we thought
that this was an opportunity to get the details directly to the pope,
Concerned by the accusations against the Chilean bishop, members of the Commission for the Protection of Minors traveled to Rome so
that they could deliver Mr. Cruz’s letter to the pope.
In the letter, Mr. Cruz wrote that Bishop Barros, who was a priest at the time, witnessed the abuse.
" he said. that O’Malley said the letter would be handed to Francis, who I think was literally in the next room,
The letter explicitly detailed abuses the victim said were witnessed by other clerics,
including Juan Barros Madrid, who was appointed bishop of Osorno, Chile, that year.
Marco Politi, a Vatican expert and the author of the book "Pope Francis Among the Wolves," said the pope’s
continued belief in the innocence of Bishop Barros must have been based on an internal investigation.