Paul KeenanMarie Collins expresses hopes for body’s first meeting
Irish abuse survivor Marie Collins has said she is “looking forward to getting started” as the first meeting of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors gets underway this week.
Mrs Collins was named in March as a member of the Pope’s newly established body set to prioritise his drive to safeguard children in the Church.
Ahead of her trip to Rome for the May 3 inaugural meeting, Mrs Collins told this newspaper that she hopes the commission now signals “real change in the way the Church deals with abuse”.
“It’s the beginning of a long journey,” she said of the commission’s work, “but hopefully not too long towards a positive outcome.”
Accepting that each of the eight members of the commission are confident in their own areas of competence and will bring their own perspectives to this and future meetings, Mrs Collins said that she is bringing a positive attitude to the gathering and would “speak as I have always done” on the issue of abuse.
“I am absolutely ready for the work and its challenges,” she added.
The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors was first announced by Pope Francis on December 5, 2013. In March it was revealed that Marie Collins had been selected to serve along with seven other lay and religious members, including Cardinal Sean Patrick O’Malley of Boston, USA. The Pontiff was universally praised both for his establishment of the commission and in selecting Mrs Collins as a genuine voice for victims of abuse.
In announcing the commission members in March, Fr Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See’s press office explained that “the commission will adopt a multiple approach to promoting the protection of minors, which will include education for the prevention of the exploitation of children, legal procedures relating to offences against minors, civil and canonical duties and responsibilities, and the development of ‘best practices’ as defined and developed in society as a whole”.