Greg Daly
Marie Collins The Pope should do more than ask forgiveness from the survivors of a prominent Chilean priest if the Church is serious about a ‘zero tolerance’ approach to fighting abuse, Marie Collins has said.
Last week Pope Francis apologised for underestimating the seriousness of the sexual abuse crisis in Chile following a recent investigation into allegations concerning abuse and cover-up in the country. In a letter to the South American country’s bishops, the Pontiff said he had made “serious mistakes in the assessment and perception of the situation, especially due to a lack of truthful and balanced information”.
Abuse
Three men who were abused by Fr Fernando Karadima and who have claimed that Bishop Juan Barros witnessed their abuse while a young man, are scheduled to meet the Pope in the Vatican later this month so he can ask their forgiveness in person.
Welcoming this as “a step beyond just apologising”, Mrs Collins, a former member of the Vatican’s child protection commission, told The Irish Catholic: “I don’t think things can stop at just apologising because obviously things in the Chilean hierarchy have been handled in the most appalling way.”
Zero tolerance
Mrs Collins explained that anyone who had misled the Pope around these issues should be removed from office.
“At this stage I don’t think that anything less than that is really acceptable,” she said. “That would be ‘zero tolerance’: we’ve heard all the words, now we’ve got to see the actions.”