VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has added a second survivor of priestly sex abuse to his commission of experts advising the Vatican on child protection policies, tapping a self-described “thorn in the side of the church” who has criticized the church’s response to the scandal. Peter Saunders, 57, of Britain, was one of six abuse survivors who met with Francis at the Vatican in July, giving the Argentine Jesuit his first, firsthand account of the traumatic toll that abuse wreaks on its victims.

In a telephone interview Wednesday, Saunders recalled telling the pope: “I’m not here as part of a PR exercise.”

“This is about action,” he said he told the pope. “The church getting its act together, protecting children, rooting out abusing clergy wherever they are and having a proper and compassionate response to victims and survivors, that has sadly been lacking in many places.”

Apparently, his frank words didn’t spook the pope. Francis asked Saunders to join the commission, bringing its full membership to 17, more than half of whom are women.


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