ROME
Associated Press
BY NICOLE WINFIELD
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ROME (AP) — Pope Francis’ top sex abuse adviser insisted Thursday the pope is “thoroughly committed” to ridding the church of abuse, but acknowledged his advisory commission must regroup following the clamorous resignation of Irish survivor Marie Collins.
Cardinal Sean O’Malley told a seminar on protecting children that the commission has always maintained a “victims first” priority and that the issue of continued survivor involvement in its work would be discussed at the group’s plenary meeting starting Friday.
The key question facing the commission, he said, is “how can victims and survivors continue to have a powerful voice in our work and help guide us?”
Collins resigned March 1 citing the “unacceptable” lack of cooperation from the Vatican’s doctrine office in implementing the experts’ proposals. Her departure dealt a blow to the commission’s credibility, leaving it without any survivor participation, and again raised questions about the Vatican’s commitment to fighting abuse, caring for survivors and accepting expertise from outside clerical circles.
Her resignation, which followed the suspension of the only other survivor on the board, was also a blow to Francis, who has won praise for creating the commission in 2014 and voicing “zero tolerance” for pedophiles, but has earned criticism for some problematic appointments, for scrapping a proposed tribunal to judge negligent bishops and for reducing penalties against a handful of abusers.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.