Riot police break up anti-pope demos in Chile

 "Francis, accomplice of pedophile crimes."

Riot police break up anti-pope demo near Santiago mass

SANTIAGO (AFP) - 16 January 2018

Anti-riot police used water-cannon to disperse hundreds of people protesting sexual abuse by priests as they tried to disrupt an open air mass by Pope Francis in Santiago on Tuesday.

Police moved in on the demonstrators as they headed towards the city's O'Higgins Park, where Francis was presiding over a huge open-air mass for some 400,000 pilgrims on the first day of his visit to the South American country.


Police used armored vehicles to fire water cannon at the demonstrators and arrested around 50 people, bundling them into vans.

Many of the demonstrators chanted "pedophile accomplices" as they approached the park.

A man dressed as the pope and two other people dressed as nuns unfurled a banner from the balcony of a nearby building that read: "Francis, accomplice of pedophile crimes."

Other demonstrators walked under a banner saying, "The poor of Chile are marching"

Francis' visit -- his first to Chile as pope -- has been overshadowed by a report outlining the depth of sexual abuse in the local Church, and his appointment of a bishop who many here believe covered-up the country's most prominent sex abuse scandal.

The US-based NGO Bishop Accountability said ahead of the visit that almost 80 Roman Catholic clergy members had been accused of sexually abusing children in Chile since 2000.

In Chile, Pope Met by Protests, Threats, Burned Churches

In Chile, Pope Francis was greeted with protests, threats and the burning of at least 11 churches _ hostility unheard of for a papal visit in modern times.

Jan. 19, 2018, at 12:09 a.m.        The Associated Press

Pope Francis loses his skull cap, as he holds up a cross that reads in Spanish "I give you my peace" upon arrival to meet with youths at the Shrine of Maipu in Santiago, Chile, Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino) The Associated Press

By PETER PRENGAMAN, Associated Press

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — As he does during every papal visit, Pope Francis produced plenty of surprises in Chile: He married a couple during a flight, stopped his motorcade to help a fallen police officer and wept with victims of sex abuse by priests.

But the pope also faced protests and a level of hostility unheard of in modern times for a papal visit. Anti-pope protests had to be broken up with tear gas, attackers burned at least 11 Roman Catholic Churches and pamphlets were found threatening Francis that the "next bomb would be in your cassock."

"This kind of violence during a papal visit is absolutely unprecedented. And Chile is historically a very solidly Catholic nation," 

said Andrew Chesnut, the Catholic Studies chair at Virginia Commonwealth University.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

ENB FILE PHOTO

Pope Francis' video message to Chile, Peru ahead of Apostolic Visit

Pope Francis sends this video message to the people of Chile and Peru ahead of his Apostolic Visit to the countries on 15-22 January. 

This is the full text of the message.

Brothers and sisters of Chile and Peru:

As my journey to your countries draws near, I greet you with affection. I will visit you as a pilgrim of the joy of the Gospel, to share "the peace of the Lord" with all and "to confirm you in the same hope". Peace and hope, shared among all.

I want to meet you, to look into your eyes, see your faces and be able to experience the closeness of God among all of you, His tenderness and mercy that embraces and comforts us.

I know the history of your countries, shaped with perseverance and tenacity. I wish to thank God together with you, for the faith and love you have for Him and for your brothers and sisters in need – especially the love you demonstrate towards those who are discarded by society. The culture of waste dominates us more and more. I want to share your joys, sorrows, difficulties and hopes. I want to tell you that you are not alone, that the Pope is with you, that the whole Church embraces you, that the Church sees you.

With you I want to experience the peace that comes from God, and that we need; only He can give it to us. It is the gift that Christ gives to everyone, it is the basis of our coexistence and of society. Peace is founded on justice and allows us to find opportunities to share communion and harmony. We must constantly ask the Lord for this peace and He will give it to us. It is the peace of the Risen Lord who brings joy and urges us to be missionaries, reviving the gift of faith that leads to encounter, to the shared communion of the same faith that we celebrate and spread.

This encounter with the risen Christ confirms us in hope. We do not want to be attached to the things of this world. Our gaze goes much further, our eyes look to His mercy that heals our suffering. Only He inspires us to get up and keep going. Feeling this closeness of God makes us a living community that can be moved by those who are with us and take concrete steps of friendship and fraternity. We are brothers and sisters who come out to meet others to confirm one another in the same faith and hope.

I place this Apostolic Journey and all the intentions we bring in our hearts, in the hands of the Blessed Virgin, Mother of America, so that she, like a good Mother, may embrace them and teach us the way to her Son.


See you soon! And please do not forget to pray for me. 
---------------
குறிப்பு:புகைப்படங்கள் Agencies, இணைப்பு ENB