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Pope Francis Caught Lying About Catholic Church Sexual Abuse By Priests In Chile, Covered It Up

Pope Francis received a victim’s letter in 2015 that graphically detailed how a priest sexually abused him and how other Chilean clergy ignored it, contradicting the pope’s recent insistence that no victims had come forward to denounce the cover-up.

Published

8 years ago

February 5, 2018

Geoffrey Grider

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Pope Francis received a victim’s letter in 2015 that graphically detailed how a priest sexually abused him and how other Chilean clergy ignored it, contradicting the pope’s recent insistence that no victims had come forward to denounce the cover-up, the letter’s author and members of Francis’ own sex- abuse commission have told The Associated Press.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Pope Francis came in to “clean up” the Catholic Church, promising “zero tolerance” for priests who sexually abused thier followers. But sadly, this has not been the case. In the most explosive revelations to date, Pope Francis has been caught lying about widespread sexual abuse by Catholic priests in Chile, and about the letter hand-delivered to him written by Juan Carlos Cruz exposing it all.

The fact that Pope Francis received the eight-page letter, obtained by the AP, challenges his insistence that he has “zero tolerance” for sex abuse and cover-ups. It also calls into question his stated empathy with abuse survivors, compounding the most serious crisis of his five-year papacy.

“And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.” Revelation 17:5,6 (KJV)

The scandal exploded last month when Francis’ trip to South America was marred by protests over his vigorous defense of Bishop Juan Barros, who is accused by victims of covering up the abuse by the Rev. Fernando Karadima. During the trip, Francis callously dismissed accusations against Barros as “slander,” seemingly unaware that victims had placed him at the scene of Karadima’s crimes.

On the plane home, confronted by an AP reporter, the pope said: “You, in all good will, tell me that there are victims, but I haven’t seen any, because they haven’t come forward.”

But members of the pope’s Commission for the Protection of Minors say that in April 2015, they sent a delegation to Rome specifically to hand-deliver a letter to the pope about Barros. The letter from Juan Carlos Cruz detailed the abuse, kissing and fondling he says he suffered at Karadima’s hands, which he said Barros and others witnessed and ignored.

Four members of the commission met with Francis’ top abuse adviser, Cardinal Sean O’Malley, explained their objections to Francis’ recent appointment of Barros as a bishop in southern Chile, and gave him the letter to deliver to Francis.

“When we gave him (O’Malley) the letter for the pope, he assured us he would give it to the pope and speak of the concerns,” then-commission member Marie Collins told the AP. “And at a later date, he assured us that that had been done.”

Cruz, who now lives and works in Philadelphia, heard the same later that year.

“Cardinal O’Malley called me after the pope’s visit here in Philadelphia and he told me, among other things, that he had given the letter to the pope — in his hands,” he said in an interview at his home Sunday.

Neither the Vatican nor O’Malley responded to multiple requests for comment.

While the 2015 summit of Francis’ commission was known and publicized at the time, the contents of Cruz’s letter — and a photograph of Collins handing it to O’Malley — were not disclosed by members. Cruz provided the letter, and Collins provided the photo, after reading an AP story that reported Francis had claimed to have never heard from any Karadima victims about Barros’ behavior.

The Barros affair first caused shockwaves in January 2015 when Francis appointed him bishop of Osorno, Chile, over the objections of the leadership of Chile’s bishops’ conference and many local priests and laity. They accepted as credible the testimony against Karadima, a prominent Chilean cleric who was sanctioned by the Vatican in 2011 for abusing minors. Barros was a Karadima protege, and according to Cruz and other victims, he witnessed the abuse and did nothing.

“Holy Father, I write you this letter because I’m tired of fighting, of crying and suffering,” Cruz wrote in Francis’ native Spanish. “Our story is well known and there’s no need to repeat it, except to tell you of the horror of having lived this abuse and how I wanted to kill myself.”

Cruz and other survivors had for years denounced the cover-up of Karadima’s crimes, but were dismissed as liars by the Chilean church hierarchy and the Vatican’s own ambassador in Santiago, who refused their repeated requests to meet before and after Barros was appointed.

After Francis’ comments backing the Chilean hierarchy caused such an outcry in Chile, he was forced last week to do an about-face: The Vatican announced it was sending in its most respected sex-crimes investigator to take testimony from Cruz and others about Barros.

In the letter to the pope, Cruz begs for Francis to listen to him and make good on his pledge of “zero tolerance.”

“Holy Father, it’s bad enough that we suffered such tremendous pain and anguish from the sexual and psychological abuse, but the terrible mistreatment we received from our pastors is almost worse,” he wrote.

Cruz goes on to detail in explicit terms the homo-eroticized nature of the circle of priests and young boys around Karadima, the charismatic preacher whose El Bosque community in the well-to-do Santiago neighborhood of Providencia produced dozens of priestly vocations and five bishops, including Barros.

He described how Karadima would kiss Barros and fondle his genitals, and do the same with younger priests and teens, and how young priests and seminarians would fight to sit next to Karadima at the table to receive his affections.

“More difficult and tough was when we were in Karadima’s room and Juan Barros — if he wasn’t kissing Karadima — would watch when Karadima would touch us — the minors — and make us kiss him, saying: ‘Put your mouth near mine and stick out your tongue.’ He would stick his out and kiss us with his tongue,” Cruz told the pope. “Juan Barros was a witness to all this innumerable times, not just with me but with others as well.”

“Juan Barros covered up everything that I have told you,” he added.

Barros has repeatedly denied witnessing any abuse or covering it up. “I never knew anything about, nor ever imagined, the serious abuses which that priest committed against the victims,” he told the AP recently. “I have never approved of nor participated in such serious, dishonest acts, and I have never been convicted by any tribunal of such things.”

For the Osorno faithful who have opposed Barros as their bishop, the issue isn’t so much a legal matter requiring proof or evidence, as Barros was a young priest at the time and not in a position of authority over Karadima. It’s more that if Barros didn’t “see” what was happening around him and doesn’t find it problematic for a priest to kiss and fondle young boys, he shouldn’t be in charge of a diocese where he is responsible for detecting inappropriate sexual behavior, reporting it to police and protecting children from pedophiles like his mentor.

Cruz had arrived at Karadima’s community in 1980 as a vulnerable teenager, distraught after the recent death of his father. He has said Karadima told him he would be like a spiritual father to him, but instead sexually abused him.

Based on testimony from Cruz and other former members of the parish, the Vatican in 2011 removed Karadima from ministry and sentenced him to a lifetime of “penance and prayer” for his crimes. Now 87, he lives in a home for elderly priests in Santiago; he hasn’t commented on the scandal and the home has declined to accept calls or visits from the news media.

The victims also testified to Chilean prosecutors, who opened an investigation into Karadima after they went public with their accusations in 2010. Chilean prosecutors had to drop charges because too much time had passed, but the judge running the case stressed that it wasn’t for lack of proof.

While the victims’ testimony was deemed credible by both Vatican and Chilean prosecutors, the local church hierarchy clearly didn’t believe them, which might have influenced Francis’ view. Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz has acknowledged he didn’t believe the victims initially and shelved an investigation. He was forced to reopen it after the victims went public.

He is now one of the Argentine pope’s key cardinal advisers.

By the time he finally got his letter into the pope’s hands in 2015, Cruz had already sent versions to many other people, and had tried for months to get an appointment with the Vatican ambassador. The embassy’s Dec. 15, 2014, email to Cruz — a month before Barros was appointed — was short and to the point:

“The apostolic nunciature has received the message you emailed Dec. 7 to the apostolic nuncio,” it read, “and at the same time communicates that your request has been met with an unfavorable response.”

One could argue that Francis didn’t pay attention to Cruz’s letter, since he receives thousands of letters every day from faithful around the world. He can’t possibly read them all, much less remember the contents years later. He might have been tired and confused after a weeklong trip to South America when he told an airborne press conference that victims never came forward to accuse Barros of cover-up.

But this was not an ordinary letter, nor were the circumstances under which it arrived in the Vatican.

Francis had named O’Malley, the archbishop of Boston, to head his Commission for the Protection of Minors based on his credibility in having helped clean up the mess in Boston after the U.S. sex abuse scandal exploded there in 2002. The commission gathered outside experts to advise the church on protecting children from pedophiles and educating church personnel about preventing abuse and cover-ups.

The four commission members who were on a special subcommittee dedicated to survivors had flown to Rome specifically to speak with O’Malley about the Barros appointment and to deliver Cruz’s letter. A press release issued after the April 12, 2015, meeting read: “Cardinal O’Malley agreed to present the concerns of the subcommittee to the Holy Father.”

Commission member Catherine Bonnet, a French child psychiatrist who took the photo of Collins handing the letter to O’Malley, said the commission members had decided to descend on Rome specifically when O’Malley and other members of the pope’s group of nine cardinal advisers were meeting, so that O’Malley could put it directly into the pope’s hands.

“Cardinal O’Malley promised us when Marie gave to him the letter of Juan Carlos that he will give to Pope Francis,” she said.

O’Malley’s spokesman in Boston referred requests for comment to the Vatican. Neither the Vatican press office, nor officials at the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, responded to calls and emails seeking comment.

But O’Malley’s remarkable response to Francis’ defense of Barros and to his dismissal of the victims while he was in Chile, is perhaps now better understood.

In a rare rebuke of a pope by a cardinal, O’Malley issued a statement Jan. 20 in which he said the pope’s words were “a source of great pain for survivors of sexual abuse,” and that such expressions had the effect of abandoning victims and relegating them to “discredited exile.”

A day later, Francis apologized for having demanded “proof” of wrongdoing by Barros, saying he meant merely that he wanted to see “evidence.” But he continued to describe the accusations against Barros as “calumny” and insisted he had never heard from any victims.

Even when told in his airborne press conference Jan. 21 that Karadima’s victims had indeed placed Barros at the scene of Karadima’s abuse, Francis said: “No one has come forward. They haven’t provided any evidence for a judgment. This is all a bit vague. It’s something that can’t be accepted.”

He stood by Barros, saying: “I’m certain he’s innocent,” even while saying that he considered the testimony of victims to be “evidence” in a cover-up investigation.

“If anyone can give me evidence, I’ll be the first to listen,” he said.

Cruz said he felt like he had been slapped when he heard those words. “I was upset,” he said, “and at the same time I couldn’t believe that someone so high up like the pope himself could lie about this.” source

Related Topics:Catholic Church chile Pope Francis

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Free Bible Program

200 King James Bibles To The Tomoka Correctional Institution In Daytona Beach And A Single Ruckman Reference Bible To An Inmate In Rikers Island

Published

1 day ago

January 15, 2026

Geoffrey Grider

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Please pray for the inmates at the Tomoka Correctional Institution and the one inmate at Rikers Island who will be receiving God’s word through Bibles Behind Bars

Bibles Behind Bars, thanks to all y’all’s prayers and support, is off to a fast start with Bibles and books sent to the Delta Regional Unit in Arkansas, the Monroe Correctional Complex in Washington State, the Central Florida Reception Center in Orlando as well as Orange County Corrections also in Orlando. Today we received 2 requests, one for 200 Bibles to be sent to the Tomoka Correctional Institution in Daytona Beach, and an urgent request for a single Ruckman Reference Bible to be sent to an inmate housed at America’s most notorious jail, Rikers Island in New York. The belly of the Beast!

“Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee; according to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to die;” Psalms 79:11 (KJB)

The request for the single Ruckman Reference Bible came to us from an inmate advocacy group in New York City, on behalf of the inmate who was being given a very hard time when he asked to have a Bible. Rikers Island jail is predominately Muslim, with mostly Muslim chaplains along with one or two Catholic Chaplains, so getting a Bible is a lot harder than you think it might be. We sent that Bible out, and ask you to pray for this inmate (name withheld), as well as us being able to put many more Bibles into Rikers. What a blessing that would be! Also pray for the hundreds of souls at Tomoka who will soon be receiving King James Bibles as well. Come help us, Christian, we need you!

HOW TO DONATE: Click here to view our WayGiver Funding page

If God has prospered you, please take a moment to click on the donate button to help us in this monumental task of providing King James Bibles, New Testaments, scripture portions, gospel tracts as well as Spanish Bibles to inmates in jails and prisons from Florida to Alaska, and every state in between. We need your prayers, we need your generous financial support, and we need you to stand with us in the closing days of the Church Age. Thank you so very much, TO THE FIGHT!!!

NOTE: If you need a 501 C3 Letter of Donation for tax purposes, please send your donation to:

NTEB Ministries
1340 N Great Neck Rd.
Ste. 1272-129
Virginia Beach, VA 23454.

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

HOW TO DONATE: Click here to view our WayGiver Funding page

When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.

But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORT…TO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

European Union

WORLD WAR TRUMP: European Nations Like Germany, France And The United Kingdom Sending Troops To Defend Greenland From A United States Takeover

Published

2 days ago

January 15, 2026

Geoffrey Grider

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European troops arrived in Greenland to back Denmark as talks with the United States exposed deep rifts over the Arctic island’s future and security

This article makes the 11,591st article that I have personally written over the past 17 years, and believe me when I tell you, the headline at the top of this page is the strangest one I have ever done. I know, I talk all the time about the coming world war, and give all sorts of facts, figures and scriptures to make my case, but when it actually begins to come to pass, it is a strange feeling. Only the Lord knows how far this will go, but at least for the moment, the wheels are in motion.

“Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you.” Habakkuk 1:5 (KJB)

While the MAGA Movement may be salivating at the thought of Trump taking Greenland by military force, the majority of rationally-thinking Americans do not want to acquire the island in such a manner. Indeed moves like that are precisely where world wars come from. Someone earlier today suggested that they suspect that Donald Trump may have recently had a stroke by way of attempting to explain his ever-increasing irrational behavior. At his age, that could certainly be true, but I am still sticking to my original hypothesis that the warning shot to his right ear is what is driving him closer and closer to the brink of war. Keep your eyes on Germany and France, that’s where the last two world wars came from.

European troops arrive in Greenland to support Denmark amid dispute with the United States

FROM SCRIPPS NEWS: Troops from several European countries, including France, Germany, the UK, Norway and Sweden, are arriving in Greenland in a show of support for Denmark as talks between representatives of Denmark, Greenland and the U.S. on Wednesday highlighted “fundamental disagreement” between the Trump administration and European allies on the future of the Arctic island.

Denmark announced it would increase its military presence in Greenland on Wednesday and several European partners started sending symbolic numbers of troops on that day, just as the Danish and Greenlandic foreign ministers were preparing to meet with White House representatives in Washington. The troop movements were intended to portray unity among Europeans and send a signal to U.S. President Donald Trump that an American takeover of Greenland is not necessary as NATO together can safeguard the security of the Arctic region amid rising Russian and Chinese interest.

Look at Emmanuel Macron with a darkened right eye, calling for a massive weapons buildup in Europe. “Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly… pic.twitter.com/c7s6VV2eOX

— Now The End Begins (@NowTheEndBegins) January 15, 2026

“The first French military elements are already en route” and “others will follow,” French President Emmanuel Macron announced Wednesday, as French authorities said about 15 soldiers from the mountain infantry unit were already in Nuuk for a military exercise.

Germany will deploy a reconnaissance team of 13 personnel to Greenland on Thursday, its Defense Ministry said.

On Thursday, Danish Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said the intention was “to establish a more permanent military presence with a larger Danish contribution,” according to Danish broadcaster DR. He said soldiers from several NATO countries will be in Greenland on a rotation system.

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, flanked by his Greenlandic counterpart Vivian Motzfeldt, said Wednesday that a “fundamental disagreement” over Greenland remains with Trump after they held highly anticipated talks at the White House with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Rasmussen added that it remains “clear that the president has this wish of conquering over Greenland” but that dialogue with the U.S. would continue at a high level over the following weeks. Inhabitants of Greenland and Denmark reacted with anxiety but also some relief that negotiations with the U.S. would go on and European support was becoming visible. READ MORE

Several European countries and NATO allies send troops to Greenland

Military personnel from several NATO countries including Germany, France, Sweden and Norway headed to Greenland on Thursday as Denmark and its allies prepared ⁠for exercises to try to assure US President Donald Trump over its security as he pushes to acquire the island.

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

HOW TO DONATE: Click here to view our WayGiver Funding page

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

Headline News

Iran Closes Airspace In Move That Signals An Attack By Either Israel Or The United States May Be Imminent

Published

2 days ago

January 14, 2026

Geoffrey Grider

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Many European nations as well as the United States have issued an ‘urgent warning’ for their citizens to leave Iran immediately as airspace is closed tight

The world is holding its collective breath right now, waiting for a strike on the imperiled Iranian regime that nearly all outlets say could happen at any moment. The Middle East has literally closed its doors, with as many foreign nations evacuated as possible. Donald Trump has promised the US would strike if they killed their citizens, and with the death toll now over 12,000, the moment of truth has arrived. Will he or won’t he?

“And this is the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.” Daniel 5:25 (KJB)

Everywhere around the world you look right now, nearly all of it seems to be up for grabs and in motion, and one man is there in the middle of it as perhaps the greatest change agent that exists in politics right now. Steve Bannon calls Donald Trump ‘the Disrupter’, and very few could successfully argue against that. Everywhere he goes and everything he touches becomes hyper-polarized and infused with chaos and turmoil. While the world waits to see what he will do in Iran, Europe is already planning to withstand him in Greenland. The world is indeed realigning itself right now, with the pieces being moved around to prepare for the arrival of the soon-coming 7-year kingdom, and the man who will run it.

Iran closes airspace as Western military official says signals show US attack ‘imminent’

FROM THE JERUSALEM POST: Iran has issued a NOTAM (Notice to Airmen) late on Wednesday night, closing its airspace to all flights, as Western military officials say US military action in the country is “imminent.” Flight tracker websites showed the airspace over Iran and Iraq emptying rapidly prior to the NOTAM’s issuing. The advisory is valid for a little more than two hours, Flightradar24 said.

“All the signals are that a US attack is imminent, but that is also how this administration behaves to keep everyone on their toes. Unpredictability is part of the strategy,” a Western military official told Reuters later on Wednesday.

Shortly before the NOTAM was issued, US President Trump held a press conference in which he said he was told that the killings in Iran had stopped. When asked if the US was still considering military action, Trump answered, “We’re going to watch and see what the process is.”

One of the main driving forces behind the protests of the Iranian people against the regime was the PROMISE of President Donald Trump to step in and help them obtain their freedom. Trump has now broken that promise and abandoned the Iranians who trusted him. @POTUS @WhiteHouse pic.twitter.com/jriuWnU2JV

— Now The End Begins (@NowTheEndBegins) January 15, 2026

Both Poland and Italy have urged their citizens to leave Iran immediately. The British embassy in Tehran has been temporarily closed. Less than 24 hours before, the US had urged its own citizens to leave. The US has also withdrawn military personnel from the US military’s Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. READ MORE

Trump to STRIKE Iran ‘in next 24hrs’ and could launch Tomahawk missiles

A US military strike on Iran is imminent, officials have warned as the world is waiting with bated breath amid fears the first protester has already been executed. American troops and staff have started withdrawing from key military bases across the Middle East as tensions escalate in the region.