tvc.dsj.org | September 25, 2018
IN THE CHURCH
23
Pope to Convene World Meeting on Abuse Prevention with Bishops’ Leaders
By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis is
calling the presidents of every Catho-
lic bishops’ conference in the world to
Rome February 21-24 to discuss the
prevention of the abuse of minors and
vulnerable adults.
The Vatican made the announce-
ment September 12 after the pope and
members of his international Council
of Cardinals wrapped up three days
of meetings.
After hearing from his council, the
pope “decided to convoke a meeting
with the presidents of the bishops’ con-
ferences of the Catholic Church on the
theme of the protection of minors,” the
council said in a written communique.
The members present “extensively
reflected together with the Holy Father
on the matters of abuse” during their
deliberations September 10-12. Cardi-
nal Sean P. O’Malley of Boston, presi-
dent of the Pontifical Commission for
the Protection of Minors, also updated
those present with the commission’s
ongoing efforts.
Three of the nine council members
were absent for the meetings: Cardinal
George Pell, 77, who currently is on trial
in Australia on sex abuse charges; Car-
dinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz Ossa,
85, retired archbishop of Santiago,
Chile, who is facing questioning over
his handling of abuse allegations; and
Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya
of Kinshasa, Congo, who turns 79 in
early October.
The six present for the September
meeting were: Cardinals O’Malley, 74;
Pietro Parolin, 63, Vatican secretary
of state; Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga,
75, of Tegucigalpa, Honduras; Oswald
Gracias, 73, of Mumbai, India; Reinhard
Marx, 64, of Munich and Freising,
Germany; and Giuseppe Bertello, 75,
president of the commission governing
Vatican City State.
The papally appointed group of nine
cardinal members, the so-called C9,
has been tasked with helping advise
the pope on the reform of the Vatican’s
organization and church governance.
The council said in its communique
that, concerning work on the reform
of the Curia, it finished “rereading
the texts already prepared (and) also
called attention to the pastoral care
of personnel who work there,” in the
Roman Curia.
Paloma Garcia Ovejero, vice director
of the Vatican press office, told report-
ers that a major part of the council’s
work was making final changes to the
draft of the apostolic constitution that
would govern the Curia.
The document, provisionally titled
“Praedicate Evangelium” (“Preach the
Gospel”), is still set for further “stylistic
editing” and canonical review, she said.
Pope Francis reviewed for his con-
siderations the finalized draft at their
last meeting in June. The draft docu-
ment emphasizes four points: the Curia
is at the service of the pope and the lo-
cal churches throughout the world; the
work of the Curia must have a pastoral
character; the new section in the Vati-
can Secretariat of State would oversee
the training, assigning and ministry of
Vatican nuncios and diplomats around
the world; and the proclamation of the
Gospel and a missionary spirit must
characterize the activity of the Curia.
Garcia Ovejero reiterated the coun-
cil’s last written statement from Sep-
tember 10 in which the members asked
Pope Francis for a reflection on “the
work, structure and composition of
the council itself, also taking into ac-
count the advanced age of some of its
members.”
In response to questions, she said
there was no word yet on the expected
release of the “possible and necessary
clarifications” the council said was
being formulated by