YIKES

Key Pope Adviser Quits Over Concerns About Child Sex Abuse Committee

Hans Zollner said he’s “grown increasingly concerned” with the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors’ efforts to address sex abuse in the Catholic church.

Hans Zollner, a key adviser to Pope Francis and the public face of efforts to combat sex abuse of minors, has resigned over concerns of how the papal advisory works. “The protection of children and vulnerable persons must be at the heart of the Catholic Church’s mission,” he wrote in a statement. “Over the last few years, I have grown increasingly concerned with how the commission, in my perception, has gone about achieving that goal, particularly in the areas of responsibility, compliance, accountability and transparency.” U.S. Cardinal Sean O’Malley, head of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, said that Zollner resigned due to his busy workload, contradicting Zollner’s statement. The committee was formed in 2014 and has faced significant upheaval in the years since, with Zollner the last founding member remaining. In 2017, abuse survivor Marie Collins left the committee, calling out high members of the church for their resistance and lamenting its lack of resources.