Pope Francis on Wednesday appointed nine new members to the Vatican's sex abuse commission. The announcement came as the Buenos Aires-born Church leader celebrated his 78th birthday.

Among the additions are a British survivor of clerical sexual abuse and a longtime aide to Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley, who leads the panel, the Washington Post reported. The 17-member panel is set to hold its first full meeting in Rome in February.

For the commission, the pontiff picked Peter Saunders, the founder of a London-based support group called the National Association for People Abused in Childhood. Saunders was abused by family members and the clergy and had participated in Francis' first formal encounter with victims held in July.

According to The Telegraph, Saunders has said in the past that the Church was "intimately involved in cover-ups and denials." He believes, however, that Pope Francis' tough stance on abuse is genuine.

"I think the Church is changing -- it certainly needs to -- and Francis is the right man for the job at this time," Saunders told the British newspaper. "I believe him to be sincere. Let's give the process a chance."

Saunders' fellow new board member Krysten Winter-Green, meanwhile, hails from New Zealand and holds degrees in social work and theology. Her work has focused on the homeless and individuals living with HIV, and she has experience in the field of child abuse, including "forensics, assessment and treatment of priest/clergy offenders," the Vatican said.

The pope wanted the panel to be a multidisciplinary and diverse in origin, said the Rev. Federico Lombardi, the Vatican's chief spokesman. Francis also appointed members from Australia, Colombia, the Philippines and Zambia.

The leader of the world's more than a billion Roman Catholics has called for zero tolerance and complete accountability for the "despicable" crime of abuse, Catholic publication Pilot explained. He wants the commission to help the church to find ways to better protect minors.

Victims groups in the United States, including the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, have called the formation of the commission a meaningless gesture, The Telegraph reports. The move was equivalent to "offering a Band Aid to a cancer patient," opponents said.

Related