VATICAN CITY
Catholic News Service via The Pilot
February 17, 2018
By Cindy Wooden
Pope Francis has named nine new members to the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, including abuse survivors or the parents of survivors, the Vatican said.
However, respecting “the right of each person to disclose their experiences of abuse publicly or not to do so,” the commission said Feb. 17, “the members appointed today have chosen not do so publicly, but solely within the commission.”
Pope Francis re-appointed Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley of Boston to be president of the commission, which the pope originally established in 2014. The terms of the original members had expired in December.
The first group of members had included two survivors who were very public about their experience of abuse as children. Peter Saunders, a British survivor and advocate, was asked by the commission to take a leave of absence in 2016; Marie Collins, an Irish survivor and advocate, announced in March 2017 that she had resigned. Both were outspoken about what they saw as resistance to implementing change and ensuring accountability for bishops guilty of covering up abuse.
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