Greg Daly
Marie Collins The Pope’s failure to replace the expert members of the Pontifical Council for the Protection of Minors speaks of a worrying lack of urgency around the issue, campaigner Marie Collins has said.
Mrs Collins noted her “surprise” at how the commission’s Fr Hans Zollner had revealed on Twitter that the commission’s new term would not begin until some point in 2018, and that the commission’s proposed new members have not yet been approved.
“The fact that they haven’t yet appointed the new members really shows a lack of urgency, a lack of priority,” Mrs Collins, who stepped down from the commission in February, told The Irish Catholic.
Approval
“Everybody knew that the term was three years ending on December 17 – that’s been known for the past three years. New members should have been chosen, their names sent to the Pope for approval, and they should have been appointed and in place to take over the work on the first day of the second term.”
Mrs Collins also noted that a failure to say which commission members would be staying on pointed to a lack of openness.
“It may be that they haven’t decided, but it’s that lack of clarity, lack of transparency, and unforgiveable slowness when the issue is so important. The commission should be looked on as a priority,” she said.
Concern
Although Fr Zollner assured her that the commission’s secretariat would continue working in between commission terms, Mrs Collins expressed her concern that this could lead to the eventual sidelining of members
“That’s counter to what the Holy Father’s whole intention was originally, which was to bring in international experts and get independent advice from them,” she said.
“If it ends up that the work is going to be done primarily within the Vatican, within the administration, and only mainly being reviewed or rubberstamped by the commission members then we’re really back to the situation we were in before, where the outside experts would not have the input they should have.”