The Vatican has published the Statutes for the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, another important step in the wide-ranging effort by Pope Francis to ensure protection for children and minors in church institutions worldwide. The new statutes give this papal body a formal juridical structure and authority to carry out the pope’s mandate to protect children from sexual abuse. Among other stipulations, they state that the commission is “an autonomous institution attached to the Holy See” and “an advisory body at the service of the Holy Father.” That is of crucial importance for the commission’s independence and effectiveness. It means that the commission does not report to the Roman Curia, nor does it deal with individual cases of abuse. Significantly, the first article gives the commission power to “require an account of the effectiveness of the work” carried out by those other competent bodies in the church.
Protecting Children
Show Comments ()
1
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
l mulligan
10 years 2 months ago
What will be most telling in the near term is whether & at what level the Vatican will provide funding to make this body effective. We will have to wait for that, & I wonder how long?
The latest from america
Fears of state espionage are surfacing again for Centro Prodh and other human rights groups in Mexico after legislators overhauled a suite of laws in security, military, telecommunications and intelligence matters.
We need to pray for the person whose real identity and full story we do not know. Because that is everyone.
Drama can teach us active listening and public speaking, yes; but on a deeper level, it can shape our spiritual disposition.
“Unless there is a change to current practice, our community is slowly being strangled,” said the Rev. Aaron Wessman, vicar general and director of formation for the Glenmary Home Missioners, a small Catholic order ministering in rural America.