Any Decision by Pope Francis Not to Address Church Abuse Would Be "Shocking" - Marie Collins

Irish Examiner
August 2, 2018

https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/any-decision-by-pope-francis-not-to-address-church-abuse-would-be-shocking--marie-collins-859564.html

Abuse survivor and campaigner Marie Collins has suggested that any decision by the Pope not to address those impacted by Church abuse would be "shocking ... and completely untenable."

The former member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors in the Vatican was speaking to Miriam O'Callaghan on RTE radio this morning.


Ms Collins reacted to comments yesterday by the Archbishop Diarmuid Martin who said he was pushing the Vatican to have the Pope meet a cross-section of survivors but remained cognisant that Pope Francis would only spend 36 hours in Ireland.

The Archbishop is reported to have said: “He will obviously speak about various forms of abuse not just clerical abuse, the abuse in the institutions, the laundries and the mother and baby homes. It would be great to meet some of the victims or survivors from that group, but the time is very tight.”

Ms Collins told Today with Miriam on RTE Radio 1 that for her part she felt the Pope should be meeting with survivors.

"He should be meeting representatives of the industrial schools, of the Magdalene Laundries, of the mother and baby homes simply as a recognition of those horrors.

"Ignoring an issue is not going to make it go away"

Ms Collins said she had seen for herself in the Vatican that some are still led by the hope that "if they don't talk about this issue, there won't be any attention given to it."

Marie Collins

She went on to say that if the Pope does not address the issue at all "that would be shocking... and completely untenable".

"I believe if the Pope is going to speak ... and tell us what he's going to do about this issue" and suggested the World Meeting of Families was probably the most appropriate place to do so.

Listen to the full interview from Today with Miriam on RTE Radio 1 below.