Notice something missing?

By Phil Lawler ( bio - articles - email ) | Oct 09, 2017

When Australian bishops huddled last week with Vatican officials, the top item on the agenda was an Australian royal commission’s inquiry into sexual abuse of children.

Take a look at the announced list of Vatican officials involved in the discussions. Two top officials from the Secretariat of State. The prefect of the Congregation for Bishops. The secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Notice anything missing? Nobody was involved—at least nobody who made it onto the list—from the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors: the office directly responsible for the main topic of conversation.

If you have been wondering how much real clout that papal commission has—or, to put it differently, whether that commission is window-dressing rather than policy-making—this is not reassuring.