MANILA (PHILIPPINES)
Interaksyon - Philstar Gobal [Metro Manila, Philippines]
October 23, 2025
By Roy Lagarde
A Vatican official on Tuesday urged bishops across Asia to exercise ‘decisive and courageous leadership’ in protecting minors and vulnerable adults, calling safeguarding a pastoral duty, not mere policy compliance.
Bishop Luis Manuel Ali Herrera, secretary of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, said Church leaders must act “not out of fear or obligation, but as a sacred responsibility “rooted in virtue and conversion.”
“Exercise decisive and courageous leadership,” Herrera told participants of the National Safeguarding Conference in Clark, Pampanga.
“Accept this mission not as a burden imposed from outside, but as a sacred responsibility that must be assumed as a pastoral urgency and lived with authenticity,” he said.
Herrera said every diocese must ensure that protection efforts go beyond compliance, urging bishops to align with universal norms while making safeguarding a daily pastoral commitment.
From policy to practice
Herrera called for a move “from intention to implementation,” pushing for concrete actions like independent reporting systems, trauma-informed formation, and strict adherence to civil and Church laws.
“We must establish clear policies and governance structures, including independent reporting channels,” he said. “We must collaborate with survivor groups, civil authorities, and professional bodies, committing to periodic evaluations and transparent communication.”
He also stressed the need to address digital risks, urging the Church to create robust online protocols that ensure safety and respect in all digital interactions.
‘A shared moral imperative’
The Colombian bishop said safeguarding extends beyond Church institutions, describing it as a ‘shared moral imperative’ that unites families, communities, governments, and religious traditions in protecting human dignity.
“The protection of children is not the sole responsibility of the Church, nor of any institution,” he said. “It is a shared moral imperative that unites families, communities, governments, and religious traditions.”
He called for stronger collaboration between the Church and civil society “in a spirit of mutual respect and shared responsibility,” making parishes and schools sanctuaries of safety.
Synodality, conversion
Herrera said protection is “the vocation of the whole Church,” not just the task of bishops or safeguarding experts, but of clergy, religious, laypeople, and educators alike.
He urged all Church workers to help build a “culture of protection and care” where every believer takes part in ensuring the safety of minors and vulnerable adults.
“Protection is a sign of conversion,” he said. “It marks a step forward to leave silence behind and walk toward truth, from denial to justice, from fear to hope.”
He said that listening to victims and survivors is vital to reform, adding that their voices must guide discernment, policy, and pastoral renewal across Church communities.
“We must honor the voices of victims and survivors, not as peripheral testimonies, but as essential to our discernment and reform,” Herrera said.
Herrera said the Church’s mission of protection is rooted in the Gospel and must express both justice and tenderness through authentic pastoral conversion.
“The mission of protection is not only to prevent harm, but to proclaim the dignity of every human life,” he said. “Let us build a future in which protection is not the exception but the norm; not a program but a culture; not a reaction but a vocation.”