IRELAND
Irish Times
Patsy McGarry
Sat, Aug 8, 2015
Less than 20 years ago, Marie Collins’s parish priest in Dublin warned the congregation at Mass that her story of abuse by a priest was not to be believed. Now she advises Pope Francis on child protection and is a member of the only Vatican commission with direct access to him.
This Dublin abuse survivor got the invitation to join the Vatican Commission for the Protection of Minors last year. She believes it arose from a 2012 Vatican symposium on child protection she went to.
She accepted the invitation, albeit with caution. “I’ve had churchmen lie to my face and who felt justified in misleading and being economical with the truth.”
But she felt she should join the commission. “I’ve been let down so often and so many survivors have been let down so often. We’ve had so many false dawns that if this commission doesn’t follow through it will be so . . . I think it’s the church’s last chance to get it right.”
It hasn’t been plain sailing. Some in the Vatican “find it a little difficult to work with lay people, women in particular. There’s been no overt stumbling block or anything put in our way. It’s just my own personal feeling, my own lack of trust, my own cynicism because of my history.”
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