SCOTLAND
Scottish Catholic Observer
Pope Francis is to set up a special commission on the sexual abuse of children, which will advise him on ways to prevent abuse and provide pastoral care for victims and their families.
Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston (above left), a member of the Pope’s advisory Council of Cardinals, announced the decision at a Vatican briefing for reporters last Thursday, during a break in the council’s meetings with the Pope.
The cardinal said that the new commission would continue the work of Pope Benedict XVI against clerical sex abuse, and that among its tasks would be to ‘study the present programmes in place for the protection of children, and to come up with suggestions for new initiatives; by the Vatican, in collaboration with national bishops’ conferences and religious orders around the world.
The news was greeted with great interest in Australia, where there is an ongoing Royal Commission into incidents of the abuse of children within the Catholic Church.
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