Pope Francis Makes Appointments Amid Criticism of Sex Abuse Response
Pope Francis named a new official to oversee the embattled Vatican's disciplinary office that processes clerical abuse cases on Tuesday, April 4. The move came after criticism regarding the Vatican's slow response to the abuse crisis which led to the resignation of a member of the pope's sex abuse advisory commission.
Irish priest Msgr. John Kennedy was appointed head of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith's (CDF) discipline section which deals with allegations of clerical abuse submitted by bishops from around the world. The CDF has three other sections namely the matrimonial office, doctrinal office and office for priests.
Kennedy was ordained in 1993 and worked in Crumlin and Francis Street parishes before taking postgraduate studies in Canon Law in 1998. His new assignment is a promotion after he served as assistant to the previous CDF discipline section chief, Rev. Miguel Funes Diaz, AP reported.
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Three days before Kennedy's appointment, Pope Francis designated Fr. Hans Zollner as adviser to the Vatican's office of the clergy. Zollner heads the Center for Child Protection at the Jesuits' Pontifical Gregorian University which trains church personnel on child abuse awareness.
Pope Francis' recent moves are seen as a knee-jerk reaction to criticisms of how his papacy has handled clerical abuse cases. In early March, Marie Collins resigned as a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, citing obstacles thrown at them by members of the curia.
An American woman who was a victim of clerical abuse as a child described the Catholic Church's failure to address the problem as disturbing.
"It's all nothing more than window dressing to me. They haven't taken real action," said Helen McGonigle, who was abused by a priest in the 1960s when she was aged between 6 and 9-years-old.
"They can do all the window-dressing they want and have all these reports come out which are just horrific and which state the truth for the historical record but we have to put the Vatican on notice that they've got to change, and it has to come right from the top," she went on to say.
