Vatican, Catholic leaders from Europe discuss sexual abuse in the Church

Pope Francis meets with members of the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) on March 23, 2023. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Nov 13, 2024 / 13:05 pm (CNA).

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

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

The gathering, taking place in the center of Rome at the headquarters of the PCPM, includes participants — bishops, priests, religious, and laymen and laywomen — from 25 countries in Europe.

Safeguarding practices and strategies, how Church law and civil law interact, how to better help victims, and how to develop safeguarding networks are some of the topics the conference will address.

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

In a message to conference participants Nov. 13, Pope Francis said attendees’ “commitment to this cause [of safeguarding against abuse] is a sign of the Church’s continuing efforts to protect the most vulnerable in our midst.”

The pontiff wrote that he is praying for the conference, which he hopes will be “a source of fruitful insights” and that their exchanges “will contribute to a safer and more compassionate Church” and a “deeper commitment to safeguarding children and vulnerable adults within the Church.”

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

Annual report issued

At the end of October, the Vatican’s safeguarding commission issued its first annual report assessing the Catholic Church’s policies and procedures to prevent abuse in dioceses worldwide from Africa to Oceania.

The report noted that in Europe, there are positive advances toward greater safeguarding frameworks and measures within the Church, with numerous good practices in place, but “the differences in response strategies between bishops and religious can present opportunities for growth and improvement.”

Under challenges, the report identified a lack of data on abuse prevalence in many countries, some frustration with the way cases are handled in the canonical system, and disparities between Western and Eastern Europe in the availability and quality of child-sensitive counseling and care for victims.

“In [European] nations that have experienced very complex crises or that have developed an in-depth public dialogue on abuses, there is a clear trend toward establishing more structured and responsive systems for dealing with abuse within the Church,” the report said.