From 1 to 3 June 2018 the Holy Father will receive a second group of victims of the Rev. Fernando Karadima and other followers of the parish of the Sagrado Corazón de Providencia (“El Bosque”). They are five priests who were victims of abuse of power and conscience, and of sexual abuse. Together with them there will also be two priests who have assisted the victims in their legal and spiritual journey, and two laypersons involved in this suffering. They will all be guests of the Holy Father at the Casa Santa Marta.

The great majority of these people attended the meetings in Chile during the special mission of H.E. Msgr. Charles Scicluna and of Msgr. Jordi Bertomeu, which took place in February this year. The others collaborated in the weeks following the visit.

With this new meeting, planned a month ago, Pope Francis wishes to demonstrate his closeness to the abused priests, to accompany them in their suffering and to listen to their valuable opinion to improve the current measures for the prevention and countering of abuse in the Church.

This concludes the first phase of meetings that the Holy Father wished to have with the victims of the abusive system established around a decade ago in the aforementioned parish. These priests and laypersons represent all the victims of the abuse in Chile but it is not excluded that similar initiatives may be repeated in the future.

There will be various meetings during the weekend, which will take place in an atmosphere of trust and confidentiality. In the morning of Saturday 2 June, the Pope will celebrate a private Mass at the Casa Santa Marta; in the afternoon, there will be a group meeting followed by individual meetings.

The Holy Father continues to ask the faithful of Chile – and especially the faithful of the parishes where these priests carry out their pastoral mission – to accompany them with prayer and solidarity during these days.