Pope has chance to change church's response to scandal, campaigner says

The four-day summit which begins on Thursday is the first time a Pope has called such a large group of senior clergy together to discuss the protection of children in the Church.

Pope Francis faces a 'turning point' in his papacy where he has an opportunity to change the Catholic Church's response to clerical child sex abuse for good, campaigner Marie Collins has said.

Ms Collins, a former member of a Vatican commission on child protection, was speaking in advance of a meeting in Rome to which the Pope has summoned around 100 bishops from all over the world.