Father Hans Zollner, SJ
Christa Pongratz-Lippitt and Robert Mickens report for The Tablet on Father Hans Zollner's recent remarks to Vatican Radio about the U.N. report on the Vatican's handling of child abuse. Zollner is head of the International Centre for Child Protection at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University, According to Pongratz-Lippitt and Mickens, here's what he told Vatican Radio:
Fr Zollner told Vatican Radio after the publication of the UN’s report that it was high time for the Vatican to face a UN evaluation. "I have the impression that the Holy See did itself no favours by not delivering the requested reports for 14 years," he said.
The Holy See’s UN representatives "have now had to face purgatory and take all the fury, disappointment and justified annoyance upon themselves," Fr Zollner said.
Meanwhile, as The Tablet reports also note, Vatican media spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi has responded to the U.N. report with a three-page statement accusing the U.N. of "ideological bias" and a refusal to recognize all that church officials have done to deal with the abuse situation in the Catholic church.
The photo of Father Zollner is from his Google+ page.
