VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter
Joshua J. McElwee | Dec. 17, 2014
ROME
Pope Francis has added members to the new Vatican commission advising him on safeguarding children from sexual abuse, appointing an additional eight people to the commission from diverse global backgrounds and professional experience.
Among the new appointments, which the Vatican announced Wednesday: an English survivor of clergy sexual abuse, a woman religious who serves as the secretary general of an pan-African episcopal conference, and several psychologists and psychotherapists from different parts of the world.
The new appointments raise the total number of members of the commission to 17; eight are women. They also diversify the global spread of the group: seven members come from Europe, two from Latin America, three from Asia and Oceania, two from Africa, and three from the U.S.
The Vatican announced the commission, officially the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, in December 2013 in an effort to show the importance Francis is placing on stopping abuse and working pastorally with abuse survivors.
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