Pope digs deeper into roots of Chile sex abuse scandal

VATICAN CITY (AP):

Pope Francis is digging deeper into the roots of Chile's sex abuse scandal by meeting with a group of priests who were trained in a cult-like Catholic community and suffered psychological and sexual abuse there.

Francis celebrated Mass yesterday with three priests trained by the Reverend Fernando Karadima, a powerful preacher in Chile, who was sentenced by the Vatican in 2011 to a lifetime of penance and prayer for having sexually and spiritually abused young parishioners through an abuse of power.

The Vatican said the Mass and subsequent weekend meetings would help Francis better understand life inside Karadima's El Bosque community, which catered to the rich and powerful of Santiago society during and after the Pinochet dictatorship.

A Vatican statement said Francis is hoping to help heal the divisions that the El Bosque scandal has created in Chile's church, and help rebuild healthy relationships between the priests and their flock "once they become conscious of their own wounds".