VATICAN CITY
Crux
By Inés San Martín
Vatican correspondent June 10, 2015
ROME — Two survivors of clerical sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, who now sit on a commission advising the pope, hailed Francis’ creation on Wednesday of a new Vatican court designed to impose accountability on bishops who mishandle abuse complaints.
Speaking to Crux via e-mail, British layman Peter Saunders called Wednesday’s announcement “good news,” saying “this is a positive step that clearly indicates that Pope Francis is listening to his commission.”
Commission member Marie Collins of Ireland said via Twitter that she was “very pleased” with the pope’s decision to launch a new tribunal to conduct trials under Church law against bishops who fail to act on abuse charges.
The thumbs-up from Saunders and Collins is significant, given that both have been outspokenly critical of several aspects of the Vatican’s response to the abuse scandals, especially a perceived lack of accountability.
Last February, Saunders said that there’s “an abysmal record of so many ill-judged responses by priests and dioceses around the world.”
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