THE Pope has appointed a trustee of a North Yorkshire-based charity to a new international commission intended to protect children from abuse.

Marie Collins is one of the founder trustees of the Marie Collins Foundation, which was started in Ripon by its chief executive Tink Palmer, an internationally recognised expert in the field of child protection, and named after Marie, a survivor of child sexual abuse.

She is among three women and four men from across the world appointed to the Vatican Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

They will be tasked with preparing the statutes for the commission, which will define the measures needed to safeguard and protect children, and ensure there is accountability on the part of the clergy.

She said the commission was an unprecedented development within the Catholic Church which she welcomed. “I and my fellow members of the Commission have a serious task ahead of us,” she added.