‘Women like the back room’: Bishop resigns after musing why only men were present at the Last Supper

A Chilean auxiliary bishop has stepped down less than a month after his appointment, after musing that there were no women present at Jesus’ Last Supper because they probably preferred the ‘back room.’

Carlos Eugenio Irarrazabal, who held his post for just 24 days, now joins more than 30 Chilean bishops who resigned in 2018 after a report commissioned by Pope Francis revealed a culture of abuse and cover-ups for decades in Chile’s Church.

Appointed by Francis, it was hoped that Irarrazabal would help to rebuild the badly damaged image of the Church – but the ex-bishop apparently struggled with the increased public scrutiny that came with his short-lived position.

The bishop’s brief tenure began with a disastrous television interview in May, in which he said that “we have to respect” the fact that there were no women seated at the table during the Last Supper, which the Bible details as Jesus’ last meal with his disciples. Irarrazabal then doubled down, stating that perhaps women “like to be in the back room.”

His comments sparked outrage among women’s groups, further eroding trust in the Church.

In a statement issued by the Santiago Archdiocese on Friday, Irarrazabal said that he wanted to “reiterate my apologies to those who have been affected by my comments.”

His resignation comes as Chilean prosecutors begin investigations into more than 150 cases of sexual abuse that were allegedly covered up by the Catholic Church.

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