Pope Francis, in an extremely rare act of self-criticism, apologised to victims of clerical sex abuse on Sunday, acknowledging he had “wounded many” in comments defending a Chilean bishop who is under scrutiny. “I have to apologise,” an unusually contrite pope told reporters aboard the plane returning to Rome from a week-long trip to Chile and Peru, saying he realised he had “wounded many people who were abused”. A Chilean, Juan Carlos Cruz, said Barros saw Karadima abuse him. In his comments on the plane, the pope disclosed that Barros had offered to resign twice in recent years but Francis rejected the offers. “I can’t condemn him because I don’t have evidence and because I am convinced he is innocent,” Francis said.

Source: Dhaka Tribune January 22, 2018 15:11 UTC