MEDIA RELEASE - FEBRUARY 9, 2016

By Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.d.
Road to Recovery
February 9, 2016

road-to-recovery.org

Road to Recovery, Inc., a non-profit charity that assists victims of sexual abuse and their families, is outraged that one of the two victim/survivors of clergy sexual abuse who serve on the Vatican’s Commission on Sexual Abuse, Peter Saunders of the United Kingdom, has been asked to step aside from the commission for pointing out and criticizing the “snail’s pace” progress of the commission

Road to Recovery, Inc. understands and empathizes with Peter Saunders in his frustration with the Papal Commission’s lack of substantive results and accomplishment since Pope Francis and Cardinal Sean O’Malley have determined for the commission its role, goals, and function; thus, the Papal Commission on Sexual Abuse is not independent

STATEMENT OF ROAD TO RECOVERY, INC.

Road to Recovery, Inc. calls on Pope Francis and Cardinal Sean O’Malley to:

1) Apologize to sexual abuse victim/survivor Peter Saunders for the retaliation he has been subjected to for attempting to hold the Papal Commission on Sexual Abuse faithful to its two-fold mission of helping to protect children and assisting local churches in dealing with the sexual abuse of children and young people.

2) Step aside and allow the Papal Commission on Sexual Abuse to determine its own goals, procedures, and policies, and provide the commission with the resources needed to fulfill the mission determined by its members.

3) Cease leading and directing the Papal Commission on Sexual Abuse and allow the victim/survivors, mental health professionals, and academic sexual abuse experts who are members of the commission to select their own Chairperson, committee structure, and goals.
4) Allow the “Tribunal on Bishop Accountability,” which was introduced by Pope Francis on June 6, 2015, but has not yet been constituted, be the responsibility of the Papal Commission on Sexual Abuse, giving it authority to investigate complicit bishops and make recommendations to Pope Francis on the dismissal of bishops.

5) Act swiftly and judiciously on the submissions of the American Catholic Whistleblowers Steering Committee regarding the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ handling of clergy sexual abuse cases and its request for the firing of three bishops for mishandling clergy sexual abuse cases.