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BY EMILY ALLEN
ANCHOR LAUREN ZIMA
The Catholic Church isn’t closing its doors this week on the topic of sexual abuse. Instead, it’s opened them for a four-day summit on the subject in Rome. euronews talked with the only sexual abuse victim attending the event -- Marie Collins.
“As a survivor I don’t want to see any child go through the same as I have myself and I think that’s they way most survivors feel so I feel this is an extremely important event for everybody.”
Collins told the crowd of bishops and religious-order leaders that she won’t settle for just an apology. News24 quotes her.
"There must be acknowledgement and accountability for the harm and destruction that has been done to the life of victims and their families by the often deliberate cover up and mishandling of cases by their superiors."
But News Video Network reports not everyone thinks this summit is a good idea.
“There are many advocates of abuse activists of abuse victims, for abuse victims, that have derided this four day symposium saying it’s nothing but window dressing for the church.”
A CNN analyst agrees to some extent this could be a public relations stunt but argues the church is trying to address the problem of sexual abuse first and its tarnished image second.
“I do think the church does realize that it’s taken a massive blow to moral authority and to its public image and I do think they want to try and turn that around.”
News.com.au reports national bishops' conferences worldwide must submit comprehensive guidelines to deal with sex abuse in the Church by May. However, some in the Church are already questioning this step’s effectiveness..
“Vatican officials say some countries are having trouble formulating these rules because of ‘cultural differences’ over what exactly constitutes child abuse and victim-support groups say the measures lack enforcement powers."
The BBC says attendees of the summit are already brainstorming ideas -- including creating e-learning centers to educate leaders on abuse.