HUDSON COUNTY (NJ)
Jersey Journal
February 17, 2019
By Rev. Alexander Santora
After a 2018 summer of stunning revelations of sexual abuse by then-Theodore Cardinal McCarrick, followed by the explosive release of the Pennsylvania grand jury report, Pope Francis took action last September. Short of convening a Vatican council, which would have summoned all the Catholic bishops from around the world, Francis called for a meeting of all the presidents of the national conferences – 110 in all. For example, Daniel Cardinal DiNardo from Texas represents the U.S. bishops. And likewise, the Mexican and Canadian counterparts will send their presidents.
They are in Rome Thursday through next Sunday. Along with them are members of the Roman Curia, the pope’s cabinet, representatives of the international unions of major religious superiors (both men and women) and a number of survivors of abuse.
“The goal is that all of the bishops clearly understand what they need to do to prevent and combat the worldwide problem of the sexual abuse of minors,” Alessandro Gisotti, the interim director of the Holy See press office, told journalists earlier this year. The pope, he said, wants the bishops to return to their countries and “understand the laws to be applied and … take the necessary steps to prevent abuse, to care for the victims and to make sure that no case is covered up or buried.”
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