Posted on 04/03/2023 6:17:27 PM PDT by marshmallow
Rome Newsroom, Mar 30, 2023 / 07:30 am Cardinal Sean O’Malley said Thursday he strongly disagrees with a critique of the Vatican’s safeguarding commission by abuse expert and recently resigned member Father Hans Zollner.
In a new statement March 30, O’Malley, who heads the commission, said: “I am surprised, disappointed, and strongly disagree with [Zollner’s] publicly-issued assertions challenging the commission’s effectiveness.”
The 56-year-old Zollner, a founding member of the Vatican’s Commission for the Protection of Minors, said in a statement March 29 that “structural and practical issues” within the commission had led him “to disassociate” from it.
A statement from commission president O’Malley issued a few hours earlier had characterized the Jesuit priest’s departure as an effort to reduce his already significant administrative responsibilities, including “his recent appointment as consultant for safeguarding to the Diocese of Rome.”
The commission issued an updated statement on March 30 in which O’Malley said he was “supplementing” his earlier sentiments regarding Zollner’s resignation.
“We do both share the view that the protection of children and vulnerable persons remains at the heart of the Church’s mission and the commission will continue to manifest that conviction,” he said.
“The commission has a plenary meeting scheduled in the next few weeks during which we can address these and other matters more fully as a group.”
In his critique of the commission, Zollner said he had “grown increasingly concerned” with the Vatican’s safeguarding commission and its lack of “responsibility, compliance, accountability, and transparency.”
“I am convinced that these are principles that any Church institution, let alone the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, is bound to uphold,” he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at catholicnewsagency.com ...
The barefoot contessa was also surprised when was criticized for offering a funeral Mass fit for royalty for the baby-butcher, Ted Kennedy.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.