VATICAN CITY
Vatican Radio
(Vatican Radio) Cardinal Seán O’Malley, President of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors on Monday issued a statement stressing the “moral and ethical responsibility” to report all suspected cases of sexual abuse to the civil authorities.
Speaking on behalf of all the Commission members, the cardinal said: “The crimes and sins of the sexual abuse of children must not be kept secret for any longer. I pledge the zealous vigilance of the Church to protect children and the promise of accountability for all”.
The statement also stressed the Commission’s “extensive education efforts” within local Churches over the past two years and reiterated the members’ willingness to provide this material at courses offered in Rome, “including to the annual training program for new bishops and to the offices of the Roman Curia for their use in their own child protection efforts”.
Please see below the full statement from Cardinal Seán O’Malley, President of the the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors
Cardinal Seán O’Malley, OFM Cap., president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, together with all the Commission Members, issued today the following statement on the obligation to report suspected sexual abuse to civil authorities:
“As Pope Francis has so clearly stated: ‘The crimes and sins of the sexual abuse of children must not be kept secret for any longer. I pledge the zealous vigilance of the Church to protect children and the promise of accountability for all’. We, the President and the Members of the Commission, wish to affirm that our obligations under civil law must certainly be followed, but even beyond these civil requirements, we all have a moral and ethical responsibility to report suspected abuse to the civil authorities who are charged with protecting our society”.
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