Three churches have been firebombed in Chile on the first full day of Pope Francis’s visit to the Andean nation.
Authorities say two churches were burned in the early hours of Tuesday in the southern Araucania region. The Pope is set to visit with indigenous Mapuches Wednesday in Temuco, the capital of Araucania.
The third church attacked was in Puento Alto, just south of Santiago.
Including the latest firebombings, nine churches have been attacked in Chile since Friday.
In recent years, the Mapuche have burned churches to agitate for the return of ancestral lands and recognition of their language. It’s not clear who has been behind the spate of recent burnings.
A man is arrested during a protest against Pope Francis in Santiago Tuesday. The pontiff is visiting Chile this week, where the Vatican’s handling of sex abuse cases has fueled bitter criticism. (Victor R. Caivano/Associated Press)
Francis is begging the forgiveness of Chileans for the “irreparable damage” done to children who have been sexually abused by priests.
Francis opened his visit to Chile on Tuesday by referring directly to the abuse scandal in a speech to President Michelle Bachelet, lawmakers, justices and other Chilean authorities. The scandal has eroded the credibility of the Catholic Church in Chile and cast a shadow over his visit, the first by a pope in three decades.
Francis said he felt “bound to express my pain and shame at the irreparable damage caused to children by some ministers of the church.” He said he joined his fellow bishops in asking forgiveness, supporting victims and ensuring abuse doesn’t happen again.
Chile’s Catholic Church had already begun losing relevance when in 2010 it was found to have covered up for a prominent and powerful priest who sexually abused minors in his posh Santiago parish. The Vatican eventually sanctioned the priest, the Rev. Fernando Karadima, in 2011, but the church has yet to recover from the scandal.
