Collins expressed shock that Mueller considered the tribunal a mere proposal. She questioned if the Vatican already had adequate means to judge negligent bishops.

Ms. Collins’ complaints “mirror” concerns she and other members of the National Review Board raised in the early years of the abuse scandal. “The whole thing spoke to me of ‘nothing’s changed.’”

A year ago, Pennsylvania's attorney general issued a scathing grand jury report that detailed abuse by more than 50 priests and other clergy against hundreds of children going back decades.

"I think this cliche must be put to an end: the idea that the pope, who wants the reform, is on one side and, on the other, a group of resisters who want to block it."

"Any delay in improving safeguarding documents around the world is leaving vulnerable people and children in danger."

Marie Collins, one of the founding members and the last remaining abuse survivor on the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, has quit.