Vatican's 21 proposals against sexual abuse of minors – 21/02/2019

Time is running out and the pope, after announcing it in his inaugural speech, distributed 21 guiding lines constituting the starting point, the map of the the revolution against the clerical badual exploitation of children and adolescents, which deal with world leaders of bishops, male and female superiors and other strategic sectors of power in the Church, gathered a total of 190 people, gathered between Thursday and Saturday at the Vatican to declare war on the the worst epidemic that the Church has suffered for many years.

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The "points of reflection", proposed in part by some national episcopal conferences, cover all cases and propose various strategies. In the first place, common measures to investigate the charges against the perpetrators, protect the victims and give the defendants the right to defend themselves. Also inform civil authorities and higher ecclesiastical authorities of civil and canonical norms.

The development of these guidelines is expected to develop a code of conduct based on the summit's decisions to protect children and adolescents from pedophile treatment, which will conclude its deliberations on Sunday with a papal speech.

Point 1 launches the idea of ​​a practical vademecum in which are specified the steps to be taken by the authorities and the case of emergency of a case. The 7 points to establish specific protocols for handling charges against bishops.

The victims who suffer and the bishops who cover the guilty are the main concern of the Vatican summit. The proposals serve to lay the foundation for the revolution in the Church in the war against the phenomenon of abuse. The goal is encourage priests and bishops guilty of badual abuse of minors to leave the ministry.

The set of standards that must be adopted as quickly as possible must be equipped with listening structures, composed of trained and experienced persons, allowing for the first discernment of the cases of alleged victims.

In all pastoral settings, a periodic review of protocols and standards should be carried out to preserve a protected environment for minors. Protocols and standards based on the principles of justice and charity must be integrated so that the action of the Church in this area is in keeping with its mission.

The Church must take care to accompany, protect and care for the victims, offering them all the support necessary for a complete healing.

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The new rules should raise the minimum age of marriage to 16 years.

Provisions must be established to regulate and facilitate the participation of lay experts in the investigation and the various degrees of judgment in the canonical processes of badual abuse and power. It would be a change of remarkable depth, almost a revolution for the hermetic traditions of ecclesiastical power.

With respect to the right to defense, it upholds the principle of the presumption of innocence up to the accused's guilt test. The guidelines should avoid the publication of pre-trial lists prior to preliminary inquiries and final conviction.

In addition, the vademecum of the new Church in the matter of war against pedophile priests and the control of the transparency of bishops establishes the need for rules governing the functioning of seminaries and candidates for priesthood or religious life. Essential, initial and ongoing training programs aimed at strengthening human, spiritual and psycho-badual maturity, as well as interpersonal relationships and their behavior.

Qualified and accredited experts must psychologically badess candidates for priesthood and to the consecrated life.

In addition, standards governing the transfer of a seminarian or religious aspirant from one seminary to another must be specified. It is the same in the case of a priest or a religious, a diocese or a congregation to another.

Compulsory codes of conduct should be formulated for all clergy, religious, service personnel and volunteers to delineate appropriate boundaries in personal relationships. After checking their criminal record, staff and volunteers must meet the necessary requirements.

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The Church should take care to illustrate all information and data on the dangers of abuse and its effects, indicating how to recognize the signs of abuse and denounce suspects of badual abuse. Everything must happen with the collaboration of parents, teachers, professionals and civil authorities.

It is necessary institute an easily accessible body for victims who want to denounce possible crimes. An organization that enjoys autonomy also from local ecclesiastical authorities, composed of experts, clergy and laity. They must know how to draw the attention of the Church to those who, in this area, feel offended by the inappropriate attitudes of the clerics.

If the vademecum of the guidelines succeeds in bringing about these radical changes in the functioning structures and in the human protagonists, the war against the badual abuse committed by children and adolescents by badual means would be largely won. The pope today launched the cornerstone of a battle that the Church can not lose, to the detriment of its future.

The 21 points, one by one

1. Create a practical vademecum in which the steps to be followed by the authority are specified at all key moments of the urgency of a case.

2. Set up "listening centers", composed of trained and expert people, where a first discernment of the cases of the alleged victims takes place.

3. Establish criteria for the direct involvement of the bishop or religious superior.

4. Establish common procedures for the examination of the charges, the protection of the victims and the right of defense of the accused.

5. Inform civil authorities and high ecclesiastical authorities in accordance with civil and canonical norms.

6. Conduct periodic review of protocols and standards to safeguard a protected environment for minors in all pastoral settings; Protocols and norms based on the principles of justice and charity that must be integrated so that the action of the Church in this area is also in keeping with its mission.

7. Establish specific protocols for handling charges against bishops.

8. Accompany, protect and care for victims, providing them with all the support they need to fully recover.

9. Increase awareness of the causes and consequences of badual abuse through continuing education initiatives of bishops, religious superiors, clergy and pastors.

10. Prepare pathways for the pastoral care of wounded communities, as well as penitential and recovery routes for the guilty.

11. Consolidate collaboration with all people of good will and media operators to recognize and discern the true cases of these false, slander charges, avoid grudges and insinuations, gossip and defamation 12 Raise the minimum age to marry at 16 years old.

13. Establish provisions that regulate and facilitate the participation of lay experts in investigations and the varying degrees of judgment of canonical processes regarding badual abuse and / or power.

14. The right to defense: It is necessary to preserve the principle of the presumption of innocence of natural law and canon law until the culpability of the accused is proven. Therefore, it is necessary to avoid publishing the lists of the accused, even by the dioceses, before the previous investigation and the final sentence.

15. Respect the traditional principle of proportionality of punishment in relation to the crime committed. Deliberate that priests and bishops guilty of badual abuse of minors abandon the public ministry.

16. Introduce rules concerning seminarians and candidates for priesthood or religious life. For them, introduce initial and continuing education programs to strengthen their human, spiritual and psycho-badual maturity, as well as their relationships and interpersonal behaviors.

17. To realize for the candidates to the priesthood and the consecrated life a psychological evaluation carried out by qualified and accredited experts.

18. Indicate the standards that govern the transfer of a seminarian or religious aspirant from one seminary to another; as well as a priest or a religious from one diocese or one congregation to another.

19. Formulate mandatory codes of conduct for all clergy, religious, service and volunteers to delineate appropriate boundaries in personal relationships. Specify the necessary requirements for staff and volunteers and check their criminal record.

20. Illustrate all information and data on the dangers of abuse and its effects, how to recognize the signs of abuse and how to report suspected badual abuse. All this should be done in collaboration with parents, teachers, professionals and civil authorities.

21. It is necessary to create, where this has not yet been done, an easily accessible body for victims who wish to report possible crimes. An organization that enjoys autonomy even vis-à-vis the local ecclesiastical authority and composed of experts (clergy and laity), knowing how to express the attention of the Church to those who, in this area, consider themselves offended by inappropriate attitudes on the part of clerics.

Vatican, correspondent and EFE

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