Pope: Listening and awareness key in child abuse prevention

By Lisa Zengarini

Pope Francis has reiterated the Catholic Church's firm commitment to the protection of minors from sexual abuse, saying that the entire Christian community should feel involved.

“This is not a negotiable matter”, he stated on Saturday morning, as he addressed participants in the first national meeting of diocesan and regional representatives of the Italian Church's Child Protection Services and Listening Centres. “We cannot stop in our action to protect minors and vulnerable people and, at the same time, to combat any form of abuse, whether sexual, of power, or of conscience,” the Pope said.

The meeting, entitled “A Wounded Beauty. I will heal your wound and heal you of your wounds" (Jer 30:17), was organized by the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI).

In his address, the Pope suggested three verbs as a guideline for action against child abuse.

To safeguard 

The first verb was "to safeguard", that is to “actively share the pain of those who have been injured and ensure that the entire community is responsible for the protection of minors and those who are most vulnerable.”

The Pope noted that this path “requires internal and community renewal in justice and truth": “Those who safeguard know that ‘no silence or concealment can be accepted on the subject of abuse.’”

Safeguarding, he continued, is also preventing harm from happening through constant training activities, aimed at spreading awareness and attention for the protection of the most fragile.

This should be a concern also for the wider society beyond the Church, the Pope warned, recalling that according to global statistics, between 42 and 46 per cent of abuse occurs within the family or in the neighbourhood, while many other cases are recorded in sports or schools.

To listen 

The second verb Pope Francis proposed was "to listen" to the victims “as a step to increase a culture of prevention”. It is realized through forming the community, implementing procedures and good practices, vigilance and transparency that builds and renews trust.  

“Only listening to the pain of the people who have suffered these terrible crimes opens up solidarity and pushes us to do everything possible to ensure that the abuse is not repeated”, the Pope noted.

To care 

“Knowing how to listen is taking care of the victims”, said the Pope, remarking that it is only by following the path of caring and listening that healing is possible.

The “cure” is also doing justice to the victims. This is why, he said, it is so important to prosecute those who commit these crimes, especially within the Church.

Thanking the pastoral workers for their work supporting victims and survivors, Pope Francis encouraged them to continue their efforts also against online child pornography.

A "precious" undertaking

“What you are doing is precious both for the victims and for the entire ecclesial community”, he said, noting that their work can encourage all Italian society to pay more attention to this scourge.

Finally, Pope Francis thanked the Italian pastoral workers for their cooperation with the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors and the support they are providing to other Episcopal Conferences, especially in developing countries, which have scarce resources for child abuse prevention and for the implementation of protection policies.