ROME (ITALY)
National Public Radio
February 21, 2019
By Amy Held and Sylvia Poggioli
Thursday at the Vatican, Pope Francis stood before some 200 participants in an unprecedented summit on preventing clergy sex abuse and said Catholics are seeking not simply “condemnations” but “concrete, effective measures.”
But a crisis that has crossed borders and generations, lacerating the church and shaking the pope’s credibility, is standing in the way as he seeks to forge a path ahead.
Francis, who leads more than 1 billion Catholics across the world, offered 21 “reflection points,” which were distributed to attendees. They include general guidelines for addressing the crisis.
Among the proposals:
Establishing protocols for handling accusations against bishops.
Having candidates for priesthood undergo psychological evaluations.
Formulating mandatory codes of conduct for clerics and volunteers outlining “appropriate boundaries in personal relationships.”
Establishing a group with a “certain autonomy” from the church easily accessible to victims who want to report a crime.
The pope exhorted the bishops and religious superiors in attendance to “listen to the cry of the young seeking justice.”
Five anonymous abuse survivors addressed the gathering via video.
A woman from Africa relayed her experience of being raped by a priest, beginning at the age of 15.
“I got pregnant three times, and he made me have abortions three times.” She added that her life had been “destroyed.”
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