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Associated Press

The special envoy sent by Pope Francis to investigate allegations that a bishop had covered up sex abuse was undergoing gallbladder surgery Wednesday in Chile, church officials said.
The curia for Charles Scicluna’s archdiocese in Malta announced the surgery in a brief statement.
The spokesman for the Chilean Catholic bishop’s conference, Jaime Coiro, said Scicluna was stable and conscious and said he wasn’t expected to remain in hospital more than two days.
The bishop’s conference said Scicluna had been suffering pain since last week.
Pope revives lapsed sex abuse commission amid scepticism
The Maltese archbishop entered the hospital Tuesday after starting his interviews with victims and others opposed to the appointment of a bishop accused of covering up for the country’s most notorious paedophile priest.

Coiro said the pope has asked that interviews with witnesses continue Wednesday through Friday as planned. They are to be handled by Jordi Bertomeu, a Spanish priest who has been serving as Scicluna’s translator and notary.
Scicluna came to Chile to investigate complaints about Bishop Juan Barros, who has been strongly defended until now by the pope.
Child-sex panellist contradicts pope, says Francis knew of Chile cover-up
Barros has been accused by victims of witnessing and ignoring the abuse of young parishioners by the Rev. Fernando Karadima, who was removed from ministry and sentenced to a lifetime of “penance and prayer” in 2010.
Barros has denied knowing of the abuse.

Barros has been a bishop since 1995, but his 2015 appointment to the city of Osorno by Francis caused outrage after the Karadima scandal had eroded the Catholic Church’s credibility in Chile.
He has faced protests in Osorno by priests and lay Catholics who question how someone who says he never saw anything suspicious at the parish could be trusted to protect Osorno’s children today.
Vatican fetes Pope Francis’ sex abuse outreach ahead of investigation
Jose Andres Murillo, one of the three victims who have spoken publicly of abuse of Karadima and have accused Barros of a cover-up, came Wednesday to meet the investigators.


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Catholic Church

Vatican’s sex abuse investigator in Chile is sent to hospital for surgery during probe into Bishop Juan Barros

Archbishop Charles Scicluna looks (pictured on Tuesday) has been sent to hospital to undergo an emergency operation, interrupting his investigation into claims of a child abuse cover-up in Chile. Photo: AP

Chilean priest Fernando Karadima is seen inside the Supreme Court building in Santiago, Chile, November 11, 2015. Picture taken November 11, 2015. REUTERS/Carlos Vera

Osornos Bishop Juan Barros smiles as he leaves the altar after Mass was celebrated by Pope Francis on Lobito Beach in Iquique, Chile, Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018. The Vatican said Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2018 that Maltese Bishop Charles Scicluna, the Vatican's most respected sex crimes expert, would travel to Chile "to listen to those who have expressed the desire to provide elements" about the case of Bishop Juan Barros, accused by abuse victims of covering up for the country's most notorious pedophile priest. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, files)

Pope was told about Chile bishop’s role in cover-up, says former child-sex panellist, contradicting pontiff

Pope Francis gestures during a news conference on board of the plane during his flight back from a trip to Chile and Peru, on January 22, 2018. Photo: Reuters

epa06451007 The bishop of the city of Osorno, Juan Barros (C), questioned for helping to cover up the sexual abuse of minors committed a few years ago by the influential priest Fernando Karadima, greets faithful during the Holy mass with Pope Francis at Lobito Campos, IIquique, Chile,18 January 2018. Pope Francis visits in Chile and Peru runs from 15 January to 22 January 2018. EPA-EFE/ESTEBAN GARAY

Pope revives lapsed sex abuse commission amid scepticism

Pope Francis receives in audience the community of the Pontifical Maronite College at the Vatican. Photo: AP

FILE - In this Feb. 8, 2012 file photo Monsignor Charles Scicluna, the Vatican's top sex crimes expert, meets journalists in Rome. The Vatican said Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2018 that Maltese Bishop Scicluna would travel to Chile "to listen to those who have expressed the desire to provide elements" about the case of Bishop Juan Barros, accused by abuse victims of covering up for the country's most notorious pedophile priest. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia, File)

Pope Francis receives in audience the community of the Pontifical Maronite College in Rome, at the Vatican, Friday, feb. 16, 2018. (L'Osservatore Romano/Pool Photo via AP)