Appointing two survivors of clerical child abuse to be members of his new Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors was good for the Pope’s PR but, the way things are turning out, it may have been a mistake. One of the two, Peter Saunders, has shown that he hasn’t really understood the responsibilities that membership of the Commission entails. He isn’t Australian, and he has no personal knowledge of the cases of child abuse that he is commenting on. He seems to be just having a bit of fun with the idea that he is a position to blackmail the Pope into obeying his orders.
