UNITED STATES
WABE
[with audio]
LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:
Has the Catholic Church made enough progress in fighting abuse by its priests? That question has renewed urgency after George Pell became the highest-ranking member of the clergy to be formally charged. Cardinal Pell of Australia is a close adviser to the pope. He’s been charged with sexual assault. He says he’s innocent. Police in Melbourne aren’t releasing the details of his accusers.
Joining us to talk about the case from Dublin and the broader questions it raises is Marie Collins. She was until recently on a papal commission dealing with the sexual abuse of children by clergy. Thanks for being with us.
MARIE COLLINS: Glad to be here.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: So please remind us of your story. How did this come to be an issue in your life?
COLLINS: Well, I was abused by a priest when I was a child. And it caused me a great deal of difficulty with my life afterwards. I had a lot of problems with anxiety and depression.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: How old were you when it happened?
COLLINS: I had just turned 13. I was in a children’s hospital. And the priest who assaulted me was the Catholic chaplain of the hospital. And he also took indecent photographs, which had a lasting effect on me.
GARCIA-NAVARRO: You were one of two sexual abuse survivors on the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors. Yet you resigned March 1. Can you tell us why?
COLLINS: I did because I accepted the appointment to the commission in the hope that the church was really beginning to show, you know, a sincere wish to change. And after three years, I resigned on some specific issues. But, basically, it was the resistance from some quarters in the Vatican to actually change.
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