Sex Abuse Board Insists on Recommendation Rejected by Vatican Dicastery
The Pontifical Commission on the Protection of Minors (PCPM) has reiterated its previous recommendation that the Holy See directly respond to letters from victims/survivors of clerical abuse reporting their ordeal. The call was repeated during the commission's meeting over the weekend.
Pope Francis set up the panel on child protection two years ago, to advise him on concrete measures to ensure the safety of minors after the Church was hit by a string of clerical scandals. Controversy arose when founding member Marie Collins resigned on March 1, after Vatican officials rejected the recommendation of replying to victims' letters.
Reacting to the controversy, Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Mueller, in charge of the Vatican ministry, said the task of replying to abuse victims lies on local bishops, not the central authority of the Holy See.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
"It's a misunderstanding to think that this dicastery in Rome could deal with all the dioceses and religious orders in the world," he said.
The resignation of 70-year-old Collins left the commission with no abuse survivors working for it. The Irishwoman was abused by a hospital chaplain when she was 13. Collins has since agreed to continue working on PCPM's educational programs for new bishops, the PCPM press release said.
During the meeting, the members agreed that giving a timely and personal response to correspondence is one part of furthering transparency and healing.
"They acknowledged that this is a significant task due to the volume and nature of the correspondence and requires clear and specific resources and procedures," the press release went on.
The commission further said it will continue strengthening awareness for child protection procedures in different countries. The most recent of such activities was an academic seminar titled "Safeguarding in schools and homes: learning from experience worldwide," held last week at Gregorian University in Rome.
