DENVER (CO)
Crux
October 5, 2017
John L. Allen Jr. and Ines San Martin
American Monsignor Stephen Rossetti is one of the key participants in the Oct. 3-6 summit at Rome’s Gregorian University on “Child Dignity in the Digital World.” He’s been involved in anti-abuse efforts in the Church for years, and he has some concrete advise to offer.
Rome – Very few people in the Catholic Church, at any level or in any place, have a deeper experience of the clerical sexual abuse scandals and the broader effort to promote child safety than American Monsignor Stephen Rossetti, a former president of the St. Luke’s Institute in Silver Spring, Maryland, and a key adviser to virtually every anti-abuse initiative in the Catholic Church.
Thus when Rossetti speaks, people tend to listen. He’s part of the scientific committee organizing an Oct. 3-6 summit at Rome’s Gregorian University on “Child Dignity in the Digital World,” and he’s got a clear message about what would constitute a serious commitment from the Vatican coming out of this high-profile event: Boots on the ground.
“You need people doing this 24/7. People who are actually collaborating with UNICEF, with the United Nations, with Interpol,” Rossetti said.
He said one logical place for such a dedicated team within the Vatican to be located would be the Secretariat of State, typically the Vatican’s main policy-setting organism, because, among other things, “it’s international,” meaning that it deals with global diplomacy.
Rossetti spoke to Crux on Oct. 4, during the Gregorian conference.
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