ROME
RTE News
Irish abuse survivor Marie Collins has addressed a symposium in Rome on the crisis over clerical sex abuse in the Catholic Church.
Speaking to over 100 bishops and 40 religious superiors, Mrs Collins spoke in graphic terms of the abuse she suffered as a 13-year-old in a hospital at the hands of a paedophile priest, and the subsequent cover up.
She was the opening speaker at a four-day symposium on child sexual abuse in the church, which has been seen as the most robust response by the Vatican to date on getting to grips with the crisis which has swept the church.
Alongside leading psychologist Baroness Sheila Hollins, Mrs Collins spoke in detail about the abuse and the frustrations, depression and despair she suffered in later life both as a result of the original trauma and the refusal by the Irish hierarchy to take her complaints seriously.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.