With Hannah Brockhaus

Vatican City, 13 November 2024 / 13:05

Catholic leaders from across Europe are in Rome this week to discuss how the Church can best protect children from sexual abuse and help those who have already suffered from it.

The Vatican’s Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors (PCPM) is hosting a conference on the protection of the Catholic Church in Europe from 13 to 15 November.

The meeting, held at the headquarters of the PCPM in the center of Rome, included bishops, priests, religious and lay women from 25 countries in Europe.

Protection practices and strategies, how canon law and civil law interact, how to better assist victims, and how to develop protection networks are some of the topics the conference will cover.

Vatican leaders and representatives from the European commission of bishops’ conferences (COMECE) are also attending the meeting, which will include a Nov. 14 keynote address from Archbishop John J. Kennedy, the Vatican’s secretary for disciplining priests guilty of abuse. .

In a message to conference participants on November 13, Pope Francis said that “the participants’ commitment to this cause (protection against abuse) is a sign of the Church’s ongoing efforts to protect the most vulnerable among us.”

The pope wrote that he prayed for the conference, which he hoped would be a “fruitful source of understanding” and that the exchanges would “contribute to a safer and more compassionate Church” and a “deeper commitment to protecting children and vulnerable adults.” Church.”

“In particular, I encourage initiatives to provide comfort and assistance to those who are suffering, as a sign of the Church’s concern for justice, healing and reconciliation,” Francis said.

Annual report published

At the end of October, the Vatican’s protection commission first annual report To evaluate the Catholic Church’s policies and procedures to prevent abuse in dioceses around the world, from Africa to Oceania.

The report noted that there had been positive progress towards broader protection frameworks and measures within the Church in Europe and that there was a wealth of good practice; but “differences in response strategies between bishops and religious may offer opportunities for growth and development.”

In the face of challenges, the report identified a lack of data on the prevalence of abuse in many countries, some disappointments with the way cases are handled in the standard system, and inequalities between Western and Eastern Europe in the availability and quality of child-sensitive counseling and care. victims.

“In (European) countries experiencing very complex crises or developing an in-depth public dialogue on abuses, there is a clear trend towards establishing more structured and responsive systems to combat abuse within the Church,” the report said.

Hannah Brockhaus is senior Vatican correspondent for the Catholic News Agency. After growing up in Omaha, Nebraska, he earned a degree in English from Truman State University in Missouri. In 2016, she moved to Rome, Italy, where in her spare time she enjoys reading and going on adventures with her husband and son.