Papal commission on abuse holds first meeting

July 07, 2014

A new commission set up by Pope Francis to coordinate the Church’s response to the sex-abuse scandal met at the Vatican on July 6 and 7, under the leadership of Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston.

Briefing reporters on the inaugural meeting of the papal commission, the Vatican press office said that discussions had included “proposals for the selection and appointment of new members, to integrate the Commission with representatives from other geographical areas; the statutes of the Commission; the need to institute an operative Office; the possibility of organizing working groups on specific themes with the collaboration of specialists and other institutions.”

The commission’s meetings also helped to complete preparations for the July 7 meeting of Pope Francis with 6 victims of sexual abuse. [See today’s separate CWN headline story.]

The commission’s next meeting will take place in October, the Vatican revealed.

 

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Further information:

• Meeting of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors and the Pope's Encounter with Victims of Abuse by Members of the Clergy (VIS)