UK member of Vatican sexual abuse commission leaves

VATICAN CITY: A leading British member of a papal advisory commission on sexual abuse who has been among the most outspokenly critical of the Vatican has left the group, the Vatican said on Saturday, in an embarrassment for the Holy See.

A statement said that at a commission meeting "it was decided" that Peter Saunders would take a leave of absence.

Saunders, himself a victim of sexual abuse by a priest, did not immediately reply to a telephone message requesting a comment on the circumstances of his departure.

It said Saunders, head of Britain’s National Association for People Abused in Childhood, would now "consider how he might best support the commission’s work".

In a separate statement on Saturday, commission president Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston said Saunders had been asked to advise the commission on the possible establishment of a victim survivor panel.

His departure leaves only one victim of sexual abuse by a cleric, Marie Collins of Ireland, sitting on the commission, which has been slowed down by internal disputes.