VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis' sex-abuse advisory committee voted Saturday to sideline one of its members, an abuse survivor who had clashed with the commission over its mission.
Peter Saunders, a British advocate for victims, had been critical of the Vatican's slow progress in taking measures to protect children and punish bishops who covered up for pedophile priests. He also wanted the commission to intervene immediately in individual cases, rather than just craft long-term policies to fight abuse.
During a commission meeting Saturday, "it was decided that Mr. Peter Saunders would take a leave of absence from his membership to consider how he might best support the commission's work," the Vatican said.
Saunders said commission members, with one abstention, had asked him to step aside after concluding they could no longer trust him to work within the scope of the commission's mandate.
Saunders said he was surprised by the Vatican's statement and denied that he had agreed to take a leave of absence. He said he remained a member of the commission and was considering his options.
But he said the Vatican's inaction in the face of continuing cases of children being raped and molested "made me lose faith in the process and lose faith in Pope Francis."
The head of the commission, Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley, said after Saturday's vote that Saunders had been asked to consider forming an external group of abuse victims to help advise the commission.
Saunders' absence leaves Marie Collins as the lone abuse survivor on the commission, which was formed in 2013 to advise the Vatican on protecting children, educating church personnel and parishioners about abuse, and keeping pedophiles out of the priesthood.
Collins said it was a "sad day" for the commission. She acknowledged Saunders' complaints about the pace of work but said the overall mission was still important.
"It is slow. It's not going to make changes overnight. And there are frustrations in that," she said. "But if we can change policy and get policies put in place that will stick around the world, that will make children safer in the future, then it's worth making time to get it right."
A Section on 02/07/2016