VATICAN (CNS): Pope Francis asked the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors to provide an annual audit of what the Church is doing to protect minors and what needs to change, as well as to urge bishops’ conferences to set up special “centres” where victims can be heard and find accompaniment toward “healing and justice.”
The annual audit “report will be a factor of transparency and accountability and—I hope—will provide a clear audit of our progress in this effort,” the pope told members of the commission during its plenary assembly on April 29.
“Without that progress, the faithful will continue to lose trust in their pastors, and preaching and witnessing to the gospel will become increasingly difficult,” he said.
Commission members also were looking how they will work within the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, according to Pope Francis’ reform of the Roman Curia, a change that goes into effect on June 5.
As outlined in the apostolic constitution, Praedicate Evangelium [Preach the Gospel], the commission’s task remains providing the pope “with advice and consultancy and to propose the most appropriate initiatives for the protection of minors and vulnerable people.”
The annual audit ‘report will be a factor of transparency and accountability and—I hope—will provide a clear audit of our progress in this effort,’ the pope told members of the commission during its plenary assembly on April 29
When the document was published in March, Seán Cardinal O’Malley of Boston, president of the commission and a member of the Council of Cardinals that drafted the constitution, said that linking the commission more closely to the doctrinal office “has made safeguarding and the protection of minors a fundamental part of the structure of the Church’s central government” and would “lead to a stronger culture of safeguarding throughout the Curia and the entire Church.”
Speaking to the commission members, the pope addressed a concern that the body would lose its independence now that it was within a larger dicastery.
“Someone might think that this could put your freedom of thought and action at risk or even take away importance from the issue with which you deal,” the pope said. “That is not my intention nor is it my expectation. And I invite you to be watchful that this does not happen.”
He said he did not want the commission to be like a “’satellite commission,’ circling around but unattached to the organisation chart” any longer, which had been an ongoing concern of members.
The pope said that while the commission will be part of the dicastery that deals with the sexual abuse of minors by members of the clergy, its president will be independent and appointed by the pope.
“I have made your leadership and personnel distinct, and you will continue to relate directly with me through your president delegate,” who has been Cardinal O’Malley since 2014. The cardinal has also been a member of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith since 2017.
I would like you, on an annual basis, to prepare for me a report on the church’s initiatives for the protection of minors and vulnerable adults … to furnish a reliable account on what is presently being done and what needs to change, so that the competent authorities can act
Pope Francis
The pope told the commission that he still wants them to provide “a proactive and prospective vision of the best practices and procedures that can be implemented in the entire Church” and to “propose better methods to enable the Church to protect minors and vulnerable persons and to assist the healing of survivors, in the recognition that justice and prevention are complementary.”
While many “important seeds” have been planted, “much remains to be done,” he said, and the reform “marks a new beginning.”
The pope told commission members their responsibility would be “to expand the scope of this mission in such a way that the protection and care of those who have experienced abuse may become normative in every sector of the Church’s life.”
This will require close collaboration with the doctrinal dicastery and all the other dicasteries of the Roman Curia for the commission’s own benefit and so “your work can enrich in turn that of the Curia and the local Churches.”
“I would like you, on an annual basis, to prepare for me a report on the church’s initiatives for the protection of minors and vulnerable adults,” Pope Francis said, explaining that his aim is “to furnish a reliable account on what is presently being done and what needs to change, so that the competent authorities can act.”
He also encouraged them to help meet other “more immediate needs,” such as “the welfare and pastoral care of persons who have experienced abuse.”
He praised the commission for providing many opportunities to meet with and listen to survivors, saying they have been “of great help in my pastoral mission to all those who have turned to me following their painful experiences.”
Pope Francis said, “Abuse in any form is unacceptable,” and “the sexual abuse of children is particularly grave, as an offense against a life that is just beginning to flower.”
The pope lamented, “Instead of flourishing, one who is abused is deeply injured, at times permanently.”
