Former Vatican official urges Church to adopt ‘zero tolerance’ for abusers

VATICAN CITY – A former top Vatican official who dealt with clergy sexual abuse issues joined victims on Monday, November 18, in urging Pope Francis to enact a zero-tolerance law throughout the global Catholic church so any cleric found guilty of abuse would be removed from ministry.

Rev. Hans Zollner, a German Jesuit priest who resigned in frustration from the Pope’s clergy abuse commission in 2022, was part of a press conference in Rome with Ending Clergy Abuse, an international group of victims.