Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for
Evangelization’s Section for the First Evangelization and New Particular
Churches, and Cardinal Seán O’Malley, president of the Pontifical
Commission for the Protection of Minors, have signed an agreement on
abuse prevention measures.
In a joint interview with the Vatican newspaper, Cardinal O’Malley
hailed the significance of the agreement, as Cardinal Tagle’s section
helps oversee the world’s missionary dioceses.
In the interview, Cardinal O’Malley hinted that he was blindsided by the
Pope’s decision last year to place the Pontifical Commission for the
Protection of Minors under the auspices of the Dicastery for the
Doctrine of the Faith, but that he viewed the decision as an opportunity
to “build a culture of safeguarding within the Curia.”
Echoing earlier comments, Cardinal O’Malley also weighed in on Father Hans Zollner’s resignation from the commission.
“For whatever reason, [Zollner] has not participated much in the life of
the Commission in the last year,” Cardinal O’Malley said. “So we were
unaware of his concerns or the depths of his concerns and … I’m just
sorry that he didn’t choose to come to our plenary, which is coming up
very shortly, and share with all of us what those concerns were rather
than to resign and call a press conference, which I don’t think has been
terribly helpful.”