ROME
Rome Reports
[with video]
2017-06-22
With the recent resignation of Marie Collins, the last clerical sex abuse survivor on the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, the Commission and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in the Vatican are attempting to point out the problem areas and move forward.
The president of the Centre for Child Protection at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, Hans Zollner, S.J., opens up about what else the Commission and the Vatican can do so each case is handled properly when it arrives to the congregation.
FR. HANS ZOLLNER
Pontifical Commission Protection of Minors
“What they can do and what they should do and what they want to do also is at least acknowledge that they have received that letter. But you must realize that at the Congregation, that section of the congregation that deals with these cases. I think, at the moment, there are 10 people who deal with 100s of cases, not only from this year but from decades ago. It’s not like in the US or Canada or Ireland, where for decades you have spoken about this, in some countries they are starting now. So things come up that have happened yesterday or 50 years ago.”
Now, some victims are contacting the Vatican, opening up about their situations that may have been hidden for years. However, they usually don’t receive an answer, as the case is being investigated and the letter could be seen as an “interference in the process.”
The other problem is when these letters are forwarded to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, there are not enough people to respond to each victim and resolve the cases, leading many victims of abuse to think the Vatican does not care.
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