Chile sex abuse victim's credibility praised, challenged

VATICAN CITY -- When a Vatican court convicted a Chilean predator priest of sex crimes, it went out of its way to affirm the credibility of his victims. Their testimony had been consistent and corroborated, while their motives in coming forward had been only to "free themselves of a weight that had tormented their consciences," the tribunal said.

One key witness in the Rev. Fernando Karadima's 2010 trial is preparing to testify again, this time in a spinoff case with potentially more significant consequences. Juan Carlos Cruz's allegations of a cover-up raise questions about Pope Francis' already shaky track record on preventing clergy sex abuse and concealment.

Cruz has accused Chilean Bishop Juan Barros of having been present when Karadima kissed and fondled him as a 17-year-old, and of then ignoring the abuse. One of Francis' top advisers has privately called Cruz a liar who is out to destroy the Chilean church. Francis, who has called allegations against Barros slander, may have accepted the adviser's take.

After his defense of Barros sparked an outcry during his recent trip to Chile, Francis did an about-face and asked Maltese Archbishop Charles Scicluna, a former Vatican sex crimes investigator, to gather testimony about Barros and then report back. Cruz, who now works in communications in the U.S., is his first witness Saturday.

"We've been giving this testimony for years and years, but finally it's being heard," Cruz told The Associated Press. "So when the pope says he needs evidence, he's had it for a long time."

Francis named Barros to head the diocese of Osorno, Chile, in January 2015 over the opposition of some Chilean bishops. They were worried about fallout from the Karadima scandal and had recommended Barros and two other Karadima-trained bishops resign and take year-long sabbaticals.

Francis has said he rejected the recommendation because he couldn't in good faith accept Barros' resignation without any evidence of wrongdoing.

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 last month.

Dozens of former parishioners and seminarians have told Chilean and Vatican prosecutors about how public Karadima's groping was, including of minors, within the tight-knit community where Barros was a top lieutenant of the now-disgraced priest. A handful of victims have also told the courts how, behind closed doors, Karadima would masturbate his young charges, and have them confess on their knees in front of his crotch.

Francis recently sparked an outcry when he called the accusations against Barros "calumny" and said none of Karadima's victims had brought forth evidence to implicate the bishop.

The AP reported last week Cruz did come forward with cover-up accusations against Barros. The pope's top abuse adviser, Cardinal Sean O'Malley, hand-delivered to Francis an eight-page letter from Cruz in April 2015.

Cruz says Barros not only witnessed him being abused, but then tormented him with private information Karadima had obtained from Cruz during confession.

"If Karadima felt that you were not being too dedicated to him in any way, he would ice you. He would not talk to you, but he would send these hatchet men, Juan Barros was one of them," said Cruz, who after joining Karadima's community went onto the seminary, only to leave after a few years.

The Vatican hasn't commented on whether Francis read the 2015 letter.

Barros himself hasn't been accused of sexually abusing anyone, and merely witnessing a superior kiss and grope minors isn't a canonical crime. Perhaps Francis doesn't consider it a fireable offense.

But Francis' own sex abuse advisers, as well as many Osorno faithful, have argued Barros' failure to "see" Karadima's abuse and his continued denial it was around him raises questions about whether he can protect children in Osorno today.

Since Barros has not been charged with any wrongdoing, Cruz's allegations against him have not been subject to legal scrutiny. However, Vatican and Chilean prosecutors both considered him to be a credible witness in cases against Karadima, during which he also testified about Barros' presence while he was being groped. Other Karadima victims have said the same.

"The tribunal has acquired sufficient conviction to accept Cruz's testimony as proof of the facts," Chilean investigating Judge Jessica Gonzalez wrote in 2011. While Gonzalez dropped criminal charges against Karadima, she stressed it wasn't for lack of proof but because too much time had passed.