ROME
National Catholic Reporter
February 17, 2018
By Joshua J. McElwee
Pope Francis renewed the mandate of his clergy sexual abuse commission Feb. 17, two months after the group’s lapse into an inactive state led some survivor advocates to question whether protecting children was being given the highest priority in the Catholic Church.
The pontiff reappointed eight of the previous members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors and added nine new people to its ranks. Boston Cardinal Sean O’Malley returns as the president of the group, and Boston priest Msgr. Robert Oliver returns as its secretary.
While none of the members of the commission are publicly known as abuse survivors, the group said in a statement that some of them are survivors who have yet to publicly identify themselves. The commission said it “believes that their privacy in this matter is to be respected.”
Six former members of the commission were not reappointed by Francis, including some of the best known figures in the group, such as: French psychotherapist Catherine Bonnet, British Baroness Sheila Hollins, New Zealand church official Bill Kilgallon, and religious congregation advisor Krysten Winter-Green.
Marie Collins, an Irish abuse survivor who resigned from the commission in frustration last March, told NCR some of those not reappointed were among the group’s most active members.
“I’m shocked at the discarding of some of the most active and independent members of the commission,” said Collins. “Four of the laywomen have gone and they were really the most active and had the most experience of working in child protection and working directly with survivors.”
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