Father Hans Zorner Resigns from Vatican Sexual Abuse Commission

Father Hans Zorner has resigned from the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

Zollner is one of the most respected experts in the Vatican’s fight against clerical sexual abuse.

He cited disagreements over the way the body was manipulated.

“We have become aware of issues that urgently need to be addressed and are making it impossible to continue,” he said in a candid message published on social media.

He said he had severed ties with his body due to structural and practical issues within it.

But Cardinal Sean O’Malley on Thursday said he strongly disagreed with Zorner’s criticism.

In a March 30 statement, O’Malley, who will lead the commission, said: [Zollner’s] A publicly announced allegation challenging the effectiveness of the Commission. ”

“We share the view that the protection of children and vulnerable people remains central to the Church’s mission and that the Commission continues to express that belief,” he said.

“The Commission has scheduled a plenary session in the coming weeks, during which time these and other issues can be addressed more fully as a group.”

The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors was established in 2014 and Zollner, 56, was a founding member.

Acting as an advisory body to the Pope, it provides recommendations on how the Church can best protect minors and vulnerable adults.

Mr. Zollner “became more and more concerned”

In his criticism of the Commission, Solner said he had become “increasingly concerned” with the Vatican’s Protection Commission and its lack of “responsibility, compliance, accountability and transparency”.

“I am convinced that every body of the Church, let alone the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, has a duty to uphold these principles,” he said.

According to Dr. Christopher Longhurst, National Leader of the Survivors of Priest Abuse Network (SNAP) in Aotearoa, New Zealand, these are the same institutional experiences experienced by survivors and advocates in New Zealand’s Catholic Church. Failure.

Mr. Longhurst says that the fact that Mr. Zolner, a founding member of that committee, is only beginning to recognize these failures is an example of how slow people in the church are to learn and accept this truth. said it was.

sauce

La Croix International

catholic news agency

community scoop

additional reading

News Categories: world.