Colombian cardinal Dario Castrillon denies he was banned to take part in a Washington D.C. mass on Saturday, following controversy over his alleged praise of the cover-up of a pedophile priest.
According to the cardinal, he wasn’t banned, but decided for himself not to attend the Latin mass.
“Yesterday (Wednesday) in the evening, I decided I wasn’t going to go. They told me there were difficulties, that they couldn’t fully guarantee my security, so I decided to tell the organizors it would be better to cancel,” Castrillon told Colombian radio station LA FM.
The attendance of the cardinal had become controversial after news leaked that he had congratulated a French bishop for not reporting a sexually abusive priest to the authorities.
However, Castrillon denies having congratulated the French bishop, claiming that the controversy is based on false information. “I will not defend criminals who abuse a minor in any way, because I am with the Church,” he told the radio station.
The Catholic Church is the center of a world wide controversy following numerous accusations of child abuse by members of the religious organization.