Voice of the Faithful ®

A high-profile Vatican commission on the prevention of child sexual abuse voted on Saturday (Feb. 6) to temporarily suspend one of its members, an outspoken victim of clerical abuse who accused the church of failing to deliver on its promises of reform and accountability.

“But the suspended member, Peter Saunders, said at a news conference in Rome on Saturday (Feb. 6) that he would stand his ground. ‘I have not left, and am not leaving my position on the commission,’ Mr. Saunders said. ‘I was appointed by His Holiness Pope Francis, and I will talk only with him about my position.’

“The public blowup could undermine confidence in the pope’s efforts to rebuild the Roman Catholic Church’s credibility on the child abuse issue. When the 17-member commission was created by Francis in his first year as pope, many victims and their advocates hoped that the presence on the panel of Mr. Saunders and another victim would spur the commission to act forcefully. But Mr. Saunders, who founded the National Association for People Abused in Childhood, in England, has complained that the commission has failed to produce tangible results.”

By Elisabetta Povoledo and Laurie Goodstein, The New York Times — Click here to read the rest of this story.