Five years after the Meeting on the Protection of Minors in the Church - the four-day anti-abuse summit convened by Pope Francis - some advocates for abuse survivors have charged that Pope Francis is thwarting efforts to achieve justice for victims, especially adults.
Citing ten cases, including that of Father Marko Ivan Rupnik, Anne Barrett Doyle, co-founder of BishopAccountability.org, told reporters in Rome that “it would be one thing if we were coming here to talk about an overall good record with an occasional inconsistency, but we’re not, we’re talking about a continued pattern of the Pope backing accused abusers.”
“It’s not that this Pope doesn’t have his heart in reform or is maybe being blocked by other members of the Curia,” she charged. “I believe he is opposed to reform - his measures have been designed to produce little impact.”