Featured Image: Tony Gentile / Reuters
(Vatican News) “The time has come, then, to work together to eradicate the evil” of the abuse of minors, Pope Francis said, in a speech delivered at the close of the final Mass for the Meeting on the Protection of Minors in the Church.
Speaking to church leaders, primarily the presidents of the world’s episcopal conferences, the Holy Father said, “the Church’s aim will be to hear, watch over, protect, and care for abused, exploited, and forgotten children, wherever they are.” To achieve that goal, he continued, “the Church must rise above the ideological disputes and journalistic practices that often exploit, for various interests, the very tragedy experienced by little ones.”
A GLOBAL CONTEXT
Pope Francis stated that the Meeting “has made us realize once again that the gravity of the scourge of sexual abuse of minors is, and historically has been, a widespread phenomenon in all cultures and societies.” Even today, he said, it is difficult to get a true idea of “the real extent of the phenomenon,” since sexual abuse is often not reported, “particularly the great number committed within families.” Citing the best data available – “in my opinion,” he said, still partial” – the Pope said the “first truth that emerges” is that “those who perpetrate abuse that is acts of physical, sexual, or emotional violence, are primarily parents, relatives, husbands of child brides, coaches, and teachers.”
“Yet we need to be clear,” he continued, “that while gravely affecting our societies as a whole, this evil is in no way less monstrous when it takes place within the Church.” Indeed, “the brutality of this worldwide phenomenon becomes all the more grave and scandalous in the Church, for it is utterly incompatible with her moral authority and ethical credibility.”
He insisted that “if in the Church there should emerge even a single case of abuse – which already in itself represents an atrocity – that case will be faced with the utmost seriousness.”
Pope Francis noted that the sexual abuse of minors “is always the result of an abuse of power” which is also present “in other forms of abuse,” such as “child soldiers, child prostitutes, starving children,” trafficking victims, “child victims of war, refugee children, aborted children, and so many others.”
A MANIFESTATION OF THE SPIRIT OF EVIL
The Pope reminded everyone that the phenomenon is “the present-day manifestation of the spirit of evil.” He warned that “if we fail to take account of this dimension, we will remain far from the truth and lack real solutions.”
Thus, aside from the practical measures, he stressed that “we need to take up the spiritual means that the Lord himself teaches us: humiliation, self-accusation, prayer and penance.” This, he said, “is the only way to overcome the spirit of evil”.
Looking to “best practices” formulated under the guidance of the World Health Organization, as well as the work of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors and the contributions made by the “Protection of Minors” Meeting, Pope Francis said the Church going forward will concentrate in particular on eight aspects of the crisis: protection of children, impeccable seriousness, genuine purification, formation, strengthening and reviewing guidelines by Episcopal Conferences, accompaniment of those who have been abused, the digital world, and sexual tourism.”
Notably, Pope Francis reiterated his commitment that “the Church will spare no effort to do all that is necessary to bring to justice whosoever has committed such crimes. The Church will never seek to hush up or not take seriously any case” of abuse of minors.
The Holy Father also thanked all priests and consecrated persons “who serve the Lord faithfully and totally”, despite the “shameful conduct of some of their confreres”; as well as the “majority of priests who are not only faithful to their celibacy, but spend themselves in a ministry today made even more difficult by the scandals of the few (but always too many of their confreres.” He thanked, too, the faithful, who “who are well aware of the goodness of their pastors, and who continue to pray for them and to support them.”
OPPORTUNITY FOR PURIFICATION
Finally, the Pope stressed the importance of “turning this evil into an opportunity for purification”. Quoting Edith Stein, St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, Pope Francis said, “Surely, the decisive events of history of the world have been essentially influenced by souls about whom the history books remain silent.” The “holy, faithful People of God,” he explained, “in its daily silence, in many forms and ways continues to demonstrate and attest with ‘stubborn’ hope that the Lord never abandons but sustains the constant and, in so many cases, painful devotion of his children.”
ALL-OUT BATTLE
The Pontiff concluded his address with his “heartfelt appeal for an all-out battle against the abuse of minors both sexually and in other areas, on the part of all authorities and individuals, for we are dealing with abominable crimes that must be erased from the face of the earth: this is demanded by all the many victims hidden in families and in the various settings of our societies.”
BISHOP’S REMARKS
On Thursday, 28th February, after his return from Rome, Bishop Stephen Lee commented on some points of the final discourse Pope Francis delivered on 24 February. He reported that two points stood out in the conference: protection of minors and complete eradication of the problem of abuse.
The bishop then cited the statistics that Pope Francis presented in his discourse, particularly the different environments in which sexual abuse happens, many of which are cases of domestic violence.
Speaking of concrete ways to address the problem, Bishop Lee remarked that since 2017 the Macau Diocese had started drafting guidelines that include a mechanism whereby victims can appeal to the proper church authorities. At the moment, no cases have been reported in the Diocese.
These guidelines will include preventive measures, such as education of children so that they are able to protect themselves.
In drafting these guidelines, each local church has to take civil legislation into account. Part of transparency includes cooperating with the civil authorities in prosecuting those who commit these sins that are, moreover, civil crimes. “No cover-ups,” Bishop Lee said.
Even if it is widespread, “even just one case of sexual abuse in the Church is already one too much,” said Bishop Lee, echoing the words of the Holy Father.
One of the aspects that the Church wishes to improve on is the selection and formation of candidates to the priesthood. Bishop Lee reiterated the need to form future priests not only in the supernatural virtues, but the human ones such that they can attain maturity.
To conclude, the Macau bishop said that he plans to gather the priests and religious in the Diocese in two weeks’ time to share with them the results of the meeting and to gather their inputs.
After the guidelines for the Diocese are finalized, he also plans to disseminate the information to all the faithful so that they know what to do if they come across such cases.
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