CRUX
Inés San Martín May 13, 2017
VATICAN CORRESPONDENT
ope Francis on Saturday praised an abuse survivor who quit his own reform commission citing Vatican resistance, saying she was “right on some issues,” but also defended the Church’s record in recovering from the abuse scandals. He also talked about his looming May 24 meeting with Donald Trump, the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X, and Medjugorje.
ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE – Pope Francis on Saturday said a former member of his reform commission on sex abuse who quit citing Vatican resistance “was right on some issues,” and that when he meets President Donald Trump on May 24, he’ll be looking to find doors that “aren’t closed” to cooperation between the Vatican and the White House. …
Clerical sexual abuse and the Collins resignation
English-speaking journalists also asked Pope Francis about the recent decision by Irish lay woman Marie Collins, a survivor of clerical sexual abuse herself, to resign from the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors which he instituted at the beginning of his papacy.
When she announced her resignation, Collins said in various interviews that resistance within the Roman Curia, meaning the Vatican’s governing body, drove her decision.
“Marie Collins explained the situation to me, I spoke with her. She’s a great woman,” the pope said, adding that she’ll continue to work with the Vatican in the formation of priests in the fight against the clerical sexual abuse.
“She’s right on some things,” he acknowledged, saying “there are too many delayed cases … backed up here,” referring to the Vatican.
He added, however, that several steps have been taken to advance the Church’s promise of fighting clerical sexual abuse.
Among the things the pope said still need attention is the shortage of personnel capable of dealing with these cases, so both the Vatican’s Secretary of State, Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and the chief of the doctrinal office, which handles abuse cases, German Cardinal Gerhard Muller, are looking for more people.
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