By Deborah Castellano Lubov
“Your mission is to help ensure that abuse is prevented. Yet prevention is never just a set of protocols or procedures. It is about helping to form, throughout the Church, a culture of care, in which the protection of minors and persons in vulnerable situations is not seen as an obligation imposed from outside, but as a natural expression of faith.”
Pope Leo XIV stressed this in his address to the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors on Monday in the Vatican, expressing his gratitude to them all for their work to protect children, adolescents, and persons in vulnerable situations.
“It is a demanding service, sometimes silent, often burdensome, but one which,” Pope Leo said, “is essential for the life of the Church and for the building of an authentic culture of care.”
Not optional
Pope Leo recalled that Pope Francis placed the Commission permanently within the Roman Curia “to remind the whole Church that the prevention of abuse is not an optional task, but a constitutive dimension of the mission of the Church.”
With this in mind, the Holy Father suggested that a path of conversion, in which the suffering of others is heard, must continue to propel them to take action, with the experiences of victims and survivors as essential reference points.
While they are certainly painful and difficult to hear, Pope Leo recognized, “these experiences powerfully bring the truth to light and teach us humility as we strive to assist victims and survivors.” He added that it is through the recognition of the pain that has occurred that a credible path for hope and renewal is opened.
The Pope also encouraged the Commission to learn from being part of the Roman Curia, cooperate with it, and likewise enrich the Curia with its own experience.
Transparent tools
In this regard, Pope Leo observed, the Commission’s Annual Report is a tool of great importance, since “it represents an exercise in truth and responsibility, as well as in hope and prudence, which must go hand in hand for the good of the Church.”
On this balance, he stressed that hope prevents us from giving in to discouragement, but prudence preserves us from improvisation and superficiality in addressing the prevention of abuse.
The Pope also underlined that the responsibility of Ordinaries and Major Superiors cannot be delegated.
Concrete expressions
Underscoring that listening to victims and accompanying them “must find concrete expression in every ecclesial community and institution,” the Holy Father urged members of the Commission to continue to serve as a resource, so that no community within the Church feels alone in this task, encouraging them to support local Churches, especially where resources or expertise are lacking.
Pope Leo stated that he looks forward to receiving additional information in their third Annual Report on the encouraging progress already made, as well as on the areas in which further development is still required.
The Holy Father recalled that the Commission’s engagement with the Church at every level, with victims, survivors, and their families, as well as with civil society partners, has prompted them to deepen their study in two rapidly developing areas of safeguarding, namely the concept of vulnerability in relation to abuse and the prevention of technology-facilitated abuse of minors in the digital space.
Universal Guidelines Framework
Pope Leo thanked the Commission for helping the Church address safeguarding challenges courageously and responding with pastoral clarity and structural renewal, especially through the development of a Universal Guidelines Framework.
In this regard, the Pope said he looks forward to receiving the final proposal so that, after appropriate study and discernment, it can be published, and reiterated that all of their efforts demonstrate that the Commission’s mission “is not simply the establishment of a formal process but a sign of communion and shared responsibility.”
“Let me reiterate,” Pope Leo XIV concluded, “that the protection of minors and persons in vulnerable situations is not an isolated area of ecclesial life, but a dimension that permeates pastoral care, formation, governance, and discipline.” – Vatican News
