Pope's summit ‘a stunning letdown’

Advocates: Pope’s anti-abuse summit ‘a stunning letdown’

Boston advocates for clergy sexual assault victims are slamming the conclusion of Pope Francis’ much-anticipated four-day summit on abuse as “a stunning letdown” devoid of real solutions and accountability for church officials who cover up abuse.

“They’ve come up with nothing, and I feel that it’s unacceptable,” Phil Saviano, a Boston-based advocate for survivors of clergy sexual abuse, told the Herald after the summit wrapped up Sunday.

Anne Barrett Doyle of the Waltham-based BishopAccountability organization said Francis’ words without major action was “a stunning letdown, a catastrophic misreading of the grief and outrage of the faithful.”

But Cardinal Sean O’Malley, the archbishop of Boston and point-man for Pope Francis’ anti-abuse efforts, struck a starkly different tone. Archdiocesan spokesman Terrence Donilon said O’Malley was “pleased to have participated” in the event and “believes it was a powerful experience of new and greater awareness for the Holy Father, bishops and all gathered as they heard testimony from survivors, religious sisters and other participants.”