VATICAN CITY
Irish Times
Paddy Agnew
Sun, Mar 23, 2014
In appointing four women, five lay people and three anglophones to the Vatican’s new Pontifical Council For The Protection Of Minors yesterday (Sat), Pope Francis has perhaps shown himself to be not just a universal pastor but also a savvy politician.
Even if this hugely charismatic Pope has already done much to improve the image of the Catholic Church, the first year of his pontificate has, in the eyes of some, been sullied by his relative silence on the issue of clerical sex abuse.
Furthermore, Francis has promised much with regard to the role of both women and the laity in the Church without, however, managing to deliver anything concrete on either front.
Pope Francis appears on the central balcony of St Peter’s Basilica on day he was elected, one year ago. Photograph: GettyThe people’s pontiff brings change to the Vatican
Marie Collins, a survivor of abuse, who was today appointed to a Vatican commission on protecting children from clerical abuse. Photograph: Matt Kavanagh/The Irish Times Pope appoints Marie Collins to church group on sex abuse
With one move yesterday (Sat), the Pope has addressed all three issues. The Holy See will, obviously, claim that Public Relations considerations have nothing to with either the timing of this announcement or with the composition of the new Pontifical Council.
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