Scottish Catholic Observer

Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston (above left), a member of the Pope’s advisory Council of Cardinals, announced the decision at a Vatican briefing for reporters last Thursday, during a break in the council’s meetings with the Pope.

The cardinal said that the new commission would continue the work of Pope Benedict XVI against clerical sex abuse, and that among its tasks would be to ‘study the present programmes in place for the protection of children, and to come up with suggestions for new initiatives; by the Vatican, in collaboration with national bishops’ conferences and religious orders around the world.

The news was greeted with great interest in Australia, where there is an ongoing Royal Commission into incidents of the abuse of children within the Catholic Church.

According to Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi (above right), Pope Francis heard the proposal on the afternoon of December 4, during the second of three days of meetings with his eight-member Council of Cardinals, and announced his decision to the council the following morning.

Cardinal O’Malley said that the new sex abuse commission would be of international composition, consisting perhaps of 12 members, including lay people, members of religious orders and priests.

The new body will not take over the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s authority for disciplining abusive priests, and local bishops will remain responsible for the safety of children in their dioceses, the cardinal said; but the ‘Holy See will try to be helpful and help to identify best practices.’

In 2011, the Vatican instructed the world’s bishops’ conferences to establish formal guidelines on dealing with clerical sex abuse, but reported in February 2013 that about a quarter had failed to comply.

Cardinal O’Malley said the Vatican’s focus so far had been on legal procedures, and that the new body would represent a more pastoral approach.

The cardinal said the commission would study a number of areas, including programmes to educate pastoral workers in signs of abuse, psychological testing and other ways of screening candidates for the priesthood, and the Church’s ‘cooperation with the civil authorities, the reporting of crimes.’

His comments chimed with those of Archbishop Timothy Costelloe of Perth who said he was considering appointing specialised staff to maintain the safety of children, as is already the case in Scottish dioceses.

—This story ran in full in the December 13 edition print of the SCO, available in parishes.