Breaking News (Ireland)
The Vatican has a 2,000-case backlog in processing clerical sex abuse cases, and criticism of the slow pace is justified, Pope Francis has said.
But he said Saturday that more staff were being added and insisted the Vatican is “on the right path”.
Francis was making his first comments about the criticism levelled at the Vatican’s handling of sex abuse cases by Marie Collins, an Irish abuse survivor who resigned from Francis’ sex abuse advisory commission in March.
Ms Collins quit because of what she said was the “unacceptable” level of resistance within the Vatican to implementing the group’s proposals to better care for victims and protect children from priests who rape and molest them.
Speaking to reporters while flying home from a trip to Portugal, Francis called Ms Collins “a great woman” and said she was “a bit right” to complain about the slow pace in processing cases.
“Marie Collins was right on that point. But we are on the right path, as there were 2,000 cases backlogged,” he said.
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