Fighting child abuse must be Church's priority: Vatican panel

A Vatican commission on child protection set up by Pope Francis said Sunday that the fight against abuse must be the priority of the Catholic Church and emphasised the importance of listening to victims.

"This must be the priority that we concentrate on right now," said commission head Cardinal Sean O'Malley, adding that otherwise "all of our other activities of evangelisation, works of mercy, education, are all going to suffer."
"It is crucial if people are going to have an understanding of how important it is for the Church to respond quickly and correctly any time a situation of abuse may arise."