Irish woman who resigned from Vatican abuse panel says Pope Francis 'met resistance' from within
AN IRISH WOMEN who resigned from a Vatican Commission on protecting minors due to lack of cooperation from Church officials has described Pope Francis as a pontiff who 'didn't brush over things' when meeting with abuse victims.
Marie Collins was a member of the
Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors
but
resigned in 2017 over what she described as a 'shameful' lack of cooperation.
Collins is a child sexual abuse survivor and brought the priest who abused her in the 1960s to justice in 1997.
She is a founder Trustee of the Marie Collins Foundation and has campaigned for the protection of children and justice for survivors of clerical sexual abuse.
Commission
Speaking previously to
The Journal
,
Collins said that there were 'a lot of good plans' in the first Commission report which was launched in October.
Among the recommendations of the pilot annual report
was the 'need for a streamlined process for discharge from office when warranted'.
It also called for the Church to 'study damages and compensation policies to promote a rigorous approach to reparations, as part of the Church's commitment to the healing journey of victims and survivors'.
Pope Francis prays inside St Mary's Pro Cathedral during his visit to Dublin
Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Pope Francis
established the Commission, consisting of an independent panel of experts, in December 2014
, amid pressure for more action to tackle clerical child sex abuse.
The Commission was then incorporated into the Roman Curia, the government of the Holy See which assists the pope in the day-to-day exercise of his role as the leader of the Catholic Church.
In 2022, Pope Francis asked for an annual and 'reliable account on what is presently being done and what needs to change' and that the reports need to have a particular focus on the care of survivors of abuse.
'He didn't brush over things'
Collins met with Francis on several occasions in the Vatican and also met with him in Dublin in 2018 with a group of abuse survivors during the World Meeting of Families.
'I always found that what you see really is what you get with Pope Francis,' said Collins.
'He was a very normal, down to earth sort of man, and that's not true of previous popes.
'He was very straightforward and answered straight questions with straight answers, he didn't brush over things.'
She said that while Francis has done a lot of good, 'he also disappointed in many other ways'.
She noted the new document that
Francis introduced in 2019 against those who abuse or cover up abuse.
This involved every diocese in the world setting up an 'easily accessible systems for submission of reports' concerning abuse or cover-ups.
There is also an obligation to 'promptly' report all accusations and ensure that Bishops are 'held accountable for their actions'.
In 2019, Francis also made complaints, testimonies and documents from internal Church trials available to lay courts and victims were able to access their files and any judgements.
However, Collins said this 'hasn't really worked very well and there's been no follow-up'.
Pope Francis arrives at the Festival of Families event at Croke Park on 25 August, 2018
Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Collins meanwhile also noted that Francis changed the Commission from being an independent group to being part of the Vatican Curia.
The Curia is essentially the government of the Catholic Church and one of the reasons Collins left the Commission in 2017 was because it was due to be separate from the Curia.
However,
it has now been embedded into the Curia and given a 'stable and central role'.
The commission's president is US Cardinal Sean O'Malley, the former archbishop of Boston.
Speaking at the launch of the first annual report, O'Malley described Collins as 'one of the most beloved and valuable members of the Commission' and said he was 'sorry when she decided to step away'.
'We understood the reasons and all of us have felt that frustration of the slowness of change coming about, but we believe that the change is taking place, even though it's often an uphill climb,' said O'Malley.
He added: 'The fact that the commission is being embedded within the Roman Curia, and given a permanent status, will be very helpful to our work.'
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File image of Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley
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Alamy Stock Photo
However, Collins said there are 'many in the Curia who are quite conservative and traditional and don't want to see change'.
'They still have that priority that the reputation of the Church has to be protected at all costs, and they're not really willing to move very far, very fast.
'Francis has moved things forward and I think he's a good man who has tried, but maybe not hard enough.
'He gave a lot of hope, and things have improved in some areas, there's no doubt, but not as far as they should have done.'
Collins said that Francis 'met resistance from within the Vatican who did not want to move forward'.
'I found that when I was on the Commission and that was the reason I resigned.
'The pope approved things that the Commission recommended to him, but they weren't carried through by his civil services within the Vatican because they didn't agree with everything that he wanted to put in place.
'They succeeded in seeing that some things didn't go forward. It's a mixed bag, it's not black and white – he's done some good stuff but there was a lot more that could have been done.'
Dublin meeting
Collins recalled a meeting between representatives of the Mother and Baby homes and Francis in 2018 during his visit to Dublin.
At the beginning of Mass in the Phoenix Park following this meeting, Francis said
: 'We ask forgiveness for the children who were taken away from their moms and for all those times when many single mothers were told that to seek their children who had been separated from them – and the same was told to their daughters and sons who were looking for their mothers – that this was a mortal sin.
'This is not a mortal sin but the Fourth Commandment. We ask forgiveness.'
Pope Francis greets the crowd at Phoenix Park in 2018
Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Collins told
The Journal
: 'The next day at the Mass in the Phoenix Park, Francis went off his pre-written script and made a statement saying that no mother who went looking for a child was committing any sort of sin.
'He was willing to do things like that when you approached him directly and I think that meant a lot to those survivors to have Francis say that.'
Meanwhile, Collins said Francis was very forthright in her dealings with him.
'If you put something to him and he agreed with it, he would do something about it.
'If he didn't agree with it, he would tell you he didn't agree with it, he was a very straightforward individual from that point of view, he didn't beat about the bush.'
Conclave
Collins meanwhile warned that 'we could do an awful lot worse than Francis following a conclave'.
'I think Francis made efforts in the right direction, he had the right attitude, and he did believe survivors.
'He talked about abusers and abusing priests as being criminal, which we hadn't had before.
'We maybe forget that he did say and do things like that that did make a difference.
'Maybe he didn't do enough, and maybe he could have done more, but we could easily get someone in to replace him who will move things back, not forward.'
Collins noted that Francis has been progressive on other issues, such as welcoming the LGBT community and women's rights, but remarked that 'they're all very small steps'.
'He has brought more women into the Vatican and looking at it from the outside, it looks like a very small movement. But within the Church, it's not taken as being very small.
'The Church is so wrapped up in tradition and things not changing, that even the small changes he's made have in some ways shaken some people.
'You don't need a really big, dramatic change as the Church moves forward very, very slowly.
'Whether his successor will follow up and continue to move things forward, it's hard to say.'
She expressed hope that Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines might be the new pope but noted that 'predictions never work out with the papacy'.
Pope Francis, right, with Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle during ceremonies at Cathedral-Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Manila, Philippines, in 2015
Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
She also noted that Francis has appointed many of the Cardinals who will be voting in the conclave 'so the next pope might be closer to his view on the world than not'.
'Francis done a fair amount to move things forward in the areas of child abuse, women in the church and LGBT community, but it's a very small forward movement.
'I would hope that the next man that comes in would take things much further, because a lot more is needed.'
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