All of Chile's 34 bishops RESIGN over a sex abuse and cover-up scandal after crisis meeting with the Pope
Pope Francis has accused Chile's bishops of destroying evidence of sex crimes
Francis said the entire Chilean church hierarchy was collectively responsible
In a leaked 2,300-page report, the pope blasted the entire Chilean church hierarchy for their 'grave defects' in handling abuse cases
All 34 Chilean bishops have now offered to resign following the crisis meeting
By Reuters and Ap
Published: 06:58 EDT, 18 May 2018 | Updated: 07:46 EDT, 18 May 2018
Pope Francis on Thursday ended his emergency summit with Chile's bishops by thanking them for their 'full willingness' to do whatever it takes to recover from a sex abuse and cover-up scandal that has discredited the church
The bishops (pictured with the Pope at the Vatican) also apologised to Chile, the victims of abuse and the pope for the scandal as they released an extraordinary joint statement
The bishops announced at the end of an emergency summit with Pope Francis that all 31 active bishops and three retired ones in Rome had signed a document offering to resign and putting their fate in the hands of the pope.
Francis can accept the resignations one by one, reject them or delay a decision.
It marked the first known time in history that an entire national bishops conference had offered to resign en masse over scandal, and laid bare the devastation that the abuse crisis has caused the Catholic Church in Chile and beyond.
www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5744503/Chilean-bishops-offer-resignation-Pope-abuse-scandal-statement.html