VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter
Joshua J. McElwee | Sep. 19, 2016
VATICAN CITY
A member of Pope Francis’ commission on clergy sexual abuse has revealed that one of her colleagues in the group has resigned his position. The resignation, previously not made public, means two of the pontiff’s seventeen original appointees to the commission are no longer taking part in its work.
Marie Collins, an Irish laywoman and member of the Pontifical Council for the Protection of Minors, made the revelation in an NCR interview in response to a question about the status of fellow member Peter Saunders, who the commission put on a leave of absence from the group in February.
“There has been a resignation from the Commission,” Collins responded. “But Peter has not resigned or been dismissed: he is still on leave of absence.”
The Irishwoman, an abuse survivor, spoke to NCR following the commission’s meeting in Rome last week.
Emer McCarthy, the commission’s projects and media coordinator, said Monday that a member of the group resigned in May due to personal reasons.
McCarthy identified the resigned member as Claudio Papale, an Italian who teaches canon law at the Pontifical University Urbaniana. The Vatican’s 2015 phonebook also lists him as an official at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
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