The European region of the Commission will launch a new webinar series on 3 December aimed at strengthening safeguarding practices across dioceses, religious congregations and Church institutions.

The series is designed to offer a shared space for learning, reflection and the development of practical tools for daily safeguarding work.

The first session, scheduled for 3 December 2025 from 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. (CET), will examine the theme “Governance and Independence.” It will be held in English and French with simultaneous interpretation. Future sessions will use different language combinations based on speakers and participants to encourage broad access across Europe and beyond.

Marie Derain de Vaucresson, President of France’s Independent National Authority for Recognition and Reparation (INIRR), will deliver the keynote address. A jurist and long-time advocate for children’s rights, she previously served as France’s National Ombudsperson for Children and has extensive experience in child protection, justice and survivor-centred safeguarding.

Three respondents will contribute to the discussion:

• Mons. Thibault Verny, President of the Commission, drawing on long-standing pastoral and administrative experience in safeguarding governance at diocesan and national levels.
• Dr Andreas Zimmer, a safeguarding specialist with more than two decades of experience in counselling and prevention, whose work is marked by a strong focus on human vulnerability.
• Mia De Schamphelaere, Belgian jurist and former senator, who for more than ten years has coordinated the Joint Reception Centre for victims of abuse in a pastoral context.

Participants will join language-based working groups to support shared reflection and to contribute directly to the development of the European Safeguarding Toolkit.

Registration is open until 28 November 2025 at: https://forms.office.com/r/wxrYEUjR41

The initiative builds on the momentum from last year’s European Conference, where safeguarding professionals expressed a desire to remain connected and continue exploring the challenges they face in their ministries, including governance, high-risk case management, safeguarding in fragile contexts, survivor participation and practical training.

Claudia Giampietro, Regional Expert for Europe, said the series responds to a widely shared need: “No one advances safeguarding alone. We grow by sharing what we have learned – including our challenges, the steps that worked and the ones that did not. This webinar series offers a space to bring these experiences together and to develop tools that truly respond to the needs we see in our ministries and communities.”

Across four sessions from December 2025 to February 2026, participants will engage with survivors, safeguarding officers, canon lawyers, NGO partners, bishops and religious superiors, as well as colleagues working in conflict-affected areas. Each webinar will address a distinct dimension of safeguarding and will feed into the drafting of the European Safeguarding Toolkit.

The toolkit will include checklists, sample policies, minimum standards and models for survivor participation. It is intended as a practical resource that dioceses, congregations and other safeguarding structures can adapt to their local contexts.

Regional Moderator Teresa Devlin highlighted the importance of a unified approach:

“Europe is a vast continent, rich in people, cultures and languages, yet we are more united than divided in our commitment to strengthening safeguarding within the Catholic Church. The wounds suffered by victims and survivors are tragically similar across borders, and it is essential that we develop victim-led responses to support healing and recovery. We move forward by sharing best practices, talking openly, listening deeply and learning from one another.”