Paul Keenan
Marie Collins attends first meeting of Vatican’s safeguarding body
Marie Collins, Ireland’s member of the Pope’s newly formed Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors has said “there is a real change” in the Church’s approach to child safeguarding.
Speaking to The Irish Catholic following the inaugural meeting of the commission members in Rome from May 1 to 3, Mrs Collins said she remains “very hopeful” for the contribution the body can make to Pope Francis’ drive to better protect children.
“The Pope made the right choices in the people who are on the committee,” she said. “They come from differing perspectives but have the right viewpoint in that they are all determined on child protection. I came away from the first meeting feeling very positive.”
Acknowledging that these are still early days for the committee’s work, which concluded its first meeting by proposing a set of statutes towards clarifying its role and activities within the Church, Mrs Collins said: “I think lots of good work is going to follow.”
As the lone survivor of clerical abuse to be appointed to the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors thus far, Mrs Collins voiced her optimism for more survivor voices than just her own to be heard within the group. “I am certainly hopeful for more survivor input,” she said.
Referring to a statement issued by the commission after its meeting which said “we see ensuring accountability in the Church as especially important, including developing means for effective and transparent protocols and processes”, Mrs Collins reiterated that “transparency and accountability are very much the aims of the commission”.
The committee members who took part in the inaugural meeting alongside Marie Collins were Catherine Bonnet, France; Baroness Sheila Hollins, United Kingdom; Cardinal Seán Patrick O’Malley OFM Cap., United States; Claudio Papale, Italy; Hanna Suchocka, Poland; Humberto Miguel Yánez, SJ, Argentina; and Hans Zollner, SJ, Germany.