translated from Spanish: Vatican creates expert group to help prepare patterns on abuses

Vatican City.- The Vatican today announced the creation of a group of experts to assist episcopal conferences and congregations that require it to prepare and update mandatory guidelines to protect minors from abuse by the Clergy. This move had arisen during the summit on child abuse sat in the Vatican from 21 to 24 February 2019 mainly to assist those episcopal conferences in smaller countries, with less economic power or that get in trouble.

“The working group will attend episcopal conferences, religious institutes and societies of apostolic life; at your request, in the preparation and updating of the guidelines on the protection of minors, in accordance with the guidelines already issued by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, as well as the provisions of current canonical laws on abuse,” reads in a note. However, as explained today, it will not be able to intervene in the work of episcopal conferences without being required. Although the preparation of the guidelines will always be the competence and responsibility of the respective Episcopal Conferences, Religious Institutes and Societies of Apostolic Life.The working group will last for two years, starting february 24, 2020 is composed of a coordinator, Andrew Azzopardi, head of the Committee on Safeguarding for the Protection of Minors and Vulnerable Adults of the Maltese Ecclesiastical Province and some experts in canon law of different nationalities. It will be supervised by the General Affairs substitute of the Secretary of State, Edgar Peña Parra, along with the Archbishop of Mumbai, Oswald Gracias; Joseph Cupich; of Malta and Deputy Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Charles Jude Scicluna, and the dean of the Institute of Psychology of the Pontifical Gregorian University and member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, Hans Zollner.El coordinator shall report quarterly to the General Affairs substitute of the Secretariat of State on the activities carried out by the working group which will be financed by a special fund composed of benefactors. The secretary of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, Juan Ignacio Arrieta Ochoa, explained during the presentation of this group of experts that it will be able to vary in the number and also include psychologists and other professionals and that it is intended to ” “it is effectively fulfilled” that each episcopal conference has these guidelines in place to act in cases of abuse.” It has been made necessary because there are dioceses that do not have sufficient resources, such as some countries in Africa, or that are at war, or are poorer and made available to do this task,” he said. This group that will work from the Vatican will be able to move to these countries if necessary, Arrieta Ochoa added. 



Original source in Spanish

Related Posts

Add Comment