VATICAN CITY
The Guardian (UK)
Lizzy Davies in Rome
The Guardian, Thursday 5 December 2013
Pope Francis has given the go-ahead to a commission of experts that will advise him on new measures to try to fight clerical sex abuse in the Roman Catholic church and boost the provision of pastoral care for victims.
In his first major move on the scandal that clouded his predecessor’s time in office, the pope told his council of cardinalson Thursday that he was approving their proposal for a new panel devoted to the issue, said the archbishop of Boston, cardinal Seán O’Malley.
“Up until now there’s been so much focus on the judicial parts of this but the pastoral response of the church is very important and the holy father is concerned about that,” O’Malley told journalists .
“And so we feel as though having the advantage of a commission of experts that will be able to study some of these issues and bring concrete recommendations for the holy father and for the Holy See will be very important.” …
Snap, the main US victims’ group, dismissed the initiative and said the only thing that would protect children was if the church punished negligent bishops and ordered them to name molesters
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