VATICAN CITY
Zee News (India)
AFP
Vatican City: External experts brought in by Pope Francis to help tackle the tiny city state`s ills are answering the papal call for openness — and infuriating some Holy See stalwarts in the process.
Over the past few months members of the pope`s commission for child protection — handpicked by Francis to help root out sex abuse in the Catholic Church — have publicly attacked a cardinal and a bishop.
The cardinal in question is the Vatican`s finance chief George Pell, who was accused by commissioner Peter Saunders of being an “almost sociopathic” man who covered up abuse and tried to buy the silence of at least one victim.
Australian Pell, who was described by Saunders as “a massive, massive thorn in the side of Pope Francis`s papacy”, threatened legal action and was defended by the Vatican, who stressed Saunders was only expressing his personal views.
Despite the anger among red hats in the gilded corridors of Saint Peter`s, Saunders — a British child abuse victim — stood his ground and has not apologised.
The anti-paedophilia body has strong ties to survivor groups who are highly critical of the Vatican, and its members readily draw attention to the Church`s flaws, even if it embarrasses the very man who appointed them.
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