Pope appoints British child sexual abuse survivor to church commission

[Siegehammer]

Peter Saunders has been appointed by Pope Francis to a new commission to protect children and help abuse survivors. Saunders is himself an abuse survivor and has set up a charity that reaches out to support other survivors.

The Vatican released the names of the final nine members of the commission on Wednesday. It is expected to hold its first full meeting at the Vatican in February. The commission has been set up to support survivors of abuse and to protect children from future abuse.

Saunders said he was flying out to Rome for the commission’s inaugural meeting. He said he intended to use his role to make sure there was a change in the way the church behaved towards victims in future.