Speaking to reporters on March 3, Cardinal Pietro Parolin said that
Marie Collins had resigned from the papal commission on sexual abuse in
order to “shake things up.”The Vatican Secretary of State acknowledged that Collins had been dismayed by “a few episodes” in which officials of the Roman Curia thwarted the plans of the papal commission.
He said that her resignation was intened to “shake the tree a bit.”
Collins had complained that the work of the commission was consistently blocked.
In a separate comment on European political affairs, Cardinal Parolin said that the Church always respects others, even when they make choices that conflict with Catholic moral principles.
He made that comment in response to queries about assisted suicide in Switzerland and an Italian court ruling that two homosexual men could both be considered fathers of a child borne by a surrogate mother.
The cardinal said that respect for others’ choices is “fundamental,” although the Church cannot cease to proclaim the message of the Gospel.