The 8 points to eradicate pedophilia, according to Pope Francis

(ANSA) – At the end of the historic meeting "The protection of minors in the Church", on cases of pedophilia and abuses within the Catholic clergy, Pope Francis called on the Vatican to adopt "concrete measures" against the scourge, and pleaded for the punishment of the guilty and the protection of the victims.

For the first time, it was planned to show the world an unrepresented Church defending the shameful theme of pedophilia within it, and the pontiff set an eight-point guideline "to eradicate this brutality from the body of our humanity," according to he expressed.

In his final articulated speech, after the concluding mbad of the historic event in the Sala Regia, the pontiff began by badyzing available data on the worldwide spread of the scourge of abuse, in contexts such as the interior walls, the school. , sports, but also in networks and bad tourism.

But he warned: "We must be clear, the universality of such a plague, although confirming its seriousness in our societies, does not diminish its monstrosity within the Church . " "The inhumanity of the global phenomenon is becoming more and more serious and scandalous within the Church because it contrasts with its moral authority and its ethical credibility," said Jorge Mario Bergoglio.

For the pope, the consecrated person, "chosen by God to guide souls to salvation", who "lets himself be subjugated by his own human frailty or his own illness", becomes "an instrument of Satan" because "in the abuse we see the hand of evil that does not stop even before the innocence of children. "

Therefore, in Catholic institutions, he said, "we realized that we should not only try to contain the very serious violations through disciplinary measures and canonical and civil processes, but also deal with the phenomenon , both inside and outside the Church ". "The Church feels called to fight against this scourge that touches the center of its mission: to proclaim the Gospel to the little ones and protect them from voracious wolves," he added.

And if the abuses, he stressed, "are still the consequence of the abuse of power," the image that rises is "the example of Herod," behind which "is Satan". The directives promoted by the Pope at the end of the meeting are directly related to the "best practices" in this area formulated by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The list includes "Guardianship of children", for which it is necessary to "change the mentality" and "combat the defensive-reactive attitude in the safeguarding of the institution"; the "Serious Impeccable", emphasizing that "the Church will not spare all that is necessary to bring to justice anyone who has committed crimes, the institution will not seek to conceal or underestimate a case" .

"A true purification", without "falling into the trap of the accusation of others, which constitutes a step forward towards an alibi that separates us from the reality"; then "Formation", that is to say "the requirements of the selection and training of candidates for the priesthood". And also "to strengthen and verify the directives of Episcopal Conferences", for which "no abuse should be concealed, as was customary in the past, or underestimated, because the concealment of abuse promotes the spread of badly and adds an additional scandal and, basically, "accompany the abused people".

The last two points: "The digital world", for which "it is necessary to commit so that young people and young people, especially seminarians and clergy, do not become slaves of dependencies based on the". exploitation and criminal mistreatment of innocents or their images or disregard for the dignity of women and the human person ", and the fight against" bad tourism ", to finish.

Bergoglio also called for the release of "the scourge of clericalism", "a fertile ground for all these abominations", of "what is necessary": the commitment to a personal conversion and collective, the humility to learn, listen, help and protect. the most vulnerable. "

The monarch Benedict Coleridge, Archbishop of Brisbane, Australia, said in the homily of the closing Mbad that he had asked for "a true Copernican conversion", without which "we will remain at the level of" l & # 39; 39; pure administration "without reaching the heart of the crisis of abuse."
"Only this conversion will help us to see that the wounds of those who have been abused are our wounds, that their fate is ours, that they are not our enemies but bones of our bones, flesh of our flesh added the Australian cardinal.