As all politicians know, resignations have power. They can dislodge leaders and shake governments. Geoffrey Howe’s devastating resignation speech in 1990, which precipitated the downfall of Margaret Thatcher, is one memorable example.
The resignation of abuse survivor Marie Collins from a Vatican commission set up by Pope Francis was not designed to topple the Holy Father but to challenge the status quo. And it seems to have worked: her comments are still being discussed in Rome.
When the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors met for its plenary assembly last week, discussions focused on two issues that led to Collins’s resignation: the Vatican refusing to always acknowledge letters from abuse victims and its reluctance to promote guidelines on handling abuse claims for bishops’ conferences around the world.
