The intervention of the President of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors at a conference organised by SOS Telefono Azzuro Foundation and the Italian Embassy to the Holy See on the occassion of the European Day to End Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation.

‘Listening to child and adolescent victims of sexual abuse to develop effective help and protection strategies’

Speech by Cardinal Sean O’Malley, OFM Cap
President, Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors

The International Day on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse is an opportunity to reaffirm the importance of listening to victims of abuse, who often find themselves isolated and in a silence that painfully reminds them of their past, makes it difficult for them to live their present and threatens their future.

This Day is a valuable opportunity to further generate and develop the knowledge, strategies and resources to support and accompany those who are struggling to find accessible spaces for structured and professional care.

Let us always remember that only by truly and authentically listening to those who have been harmed by these terrible abuses, especially children and adolescents, will it be possible to build a common strategy to respond effectively to the many challenges facing our future.

Every phase of history tests societies, governments and institutions, including the Church, charged with protecting the well-being and safety of their members. Today we face an unprecedented threat to our children and young people: the issue of online abuse and exploitation, a threat which the Holy Father has asked the Pontifical Commission to address at our September Plenary Assembly and which is one of the priority themes of the strategic work we are carrying out, in direct collaboration with the local Churches, for the prevention and care of children and young people with regard to all forms of abuse and violence. The digital world represents a great challenge to be faced by working in collaboration with technology companies in the areas of social media, gaming and artificial intelligence.

Our main task, then, is to continue to commit ourselves, to invest our knowledge, efforts and energy to deepen our understanding of the magnitude of this evil, which in turn leads to concrete and effective actions that permeate legal regulations and translate into the creation and development of safe environments in our daily lives. 

Only through the comprehensive training of those who are required to develop the necessary competencies and assume the corresponding responsibilities can we respond to the suffering of those who have already been affected, and prevent further victims.

The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors has embarked on this path, aimed at acquiring new knowledge, providing operational guidelines to the various ecclesial institutions, accompanying the global application of the provisions on the subject, set out by the Holy Father in the Motu Proprio Vos Estis Lux Mundi and in other documents of his Magisterium.

The experiences gained in different parts of the world, faced with the tragedy of sexual abuse in person or online, must be articulated and focused, in a collaborative way, on finding shared responses between institutions, ecclesial or extra-ecclesial, and communities of different cultures and religions, in order to prevent more people from being affected by any of these types of violence.

The Church has suffered and continues to suffer from the numerous cases of negligence in the protection of the most fragile and this tragic reality has led it to mature an awareness that it can now share with institutions, organisations and people involved in this common struggle. Faced with the complexity of the situations in which it finds itself, the ecclesial community is obliged to promote every effort and commitment in its endeavour to propose adequate and effective solutions.

ENDS

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