Pope Francis praying, Vatican Media
‘The abuse of children is wrong anywhere and anytime: this point is not negotiable.’
The Major Superiors of Religious Orders and Congregations
(USIG/USG) on February 19, 2019, issued a statement in advance of the
February 21-24 Vatican Summit on the Protection of Minors, with the
message: “The abuse of children is wrong anywhere and anytime: this
point is not negotiable.”
The statement pledges the support of the superiors for the initiative
of Pope Francis in calling the meeting and addressing the abuse crisis.
“In our work as religious, we come across many situations where
children are abused, neglected, maltreated and unwanted,” the statement
said. “We see child soldiers; the trafficking of minors; the sexual
abuse of minors; the physical and emotional abuse of minors. They cry
out to us. As adults, as Christians and as religious we want to work so
that their lives are changed and that the situations in which they are
brought up are improved…
“We bow our heads in shame at the realization that such abuse has
taken place in our Congregations and Orders, and in our Church…We need a
different culture in the Church and in our wider society. We need a
culture where children are treasured and where safeguarding is promoted…
“For our own part, we commit to do our best to listen better to
survivors, humbly acknowledging that that has not always been the case.
We will implement what is decided at this meeting in terms of the
accountability required of those in authority.”
The Full USIG/USG Statement
As the meeting on safeguarding and protection of minors begins we,
the Major Superiors of Religious Orders and Congregations around the
world, unite in support of this initiative of Pope Francis.
In our work as religious, we come across many situations where
children are abused, neglected, maltreated and unwanted. We see child
soldiers; the trafficking of minors; the sexual abuse of minors; the
physical and emotional abuse of minors. They cry out to us. As adults,
as Christians and as religious we want to work so that their lives are
changed and that the situations in which they are brought up are
improved.
The common theme across all of these issues is vulnerability.
Children are the most vulnerable in our societies. Children who are
poor, who are disabled or destitute, or who are on the margins, who
belong to lower social classes or castes may have a particular
vulnerability. They are considered dispensable, to be used and abused.
Sexual abuse in the Church
This particular meeting focuses on the sexual abuse of children and
the abuse of power and conscience by those in authority in the Church,
especially bishops, priests and religious. It is a story stretching back
for decades, a narrative of immense pain for those who have suffered
this abuse.
We bow our heads in shame at the realization that such abuse has
taken place in our Congregations and Orders, and in our Church. We have
learned that those who abuse deliberately hide their actions and are
manipulative. By definition, it is difficult to uncover this abuse. Our
shame is increased by our own lack of realization of what has been
happening. We acknowledge that when we look at Provinces and Regions in
our Orders and Congregations across the world, that the response of
those in authority has not been what it should have been. They failed to
see warning signs or failed to take them seriously.
Our hopes for this Meeting
Our hope for this meeting is that the Holy Spirit will work
powerfully during these three days. A three-day meeting is a short time.
However, we believe that with the winds of change blowing through our
Church and with goodwill on all sides, important processes and
structures of accountability can be started and the ones already in
place can be supported. New steps forward can be imagined and decisions
can be made so that implementation can follow speedily and universally
with proper respect for different cultures. The abuse of children is
wrong anywhere and anytime: this point is not negotiable.
The Holy Father
The leadership of the Holy Father is key. He has shown the way in so
many of these areas; he has acknowledged the pain and guilt; he has met
with survivors; he has acknowledged his own mistakes and his need to
learn from these survivors. We join with him in his mission to humbly
acknowledge and confess the wrongs that have been done; to reach out to
survivors; to learn from them how to accompany those who have been
abused and how they wish us to hear their stories.
For our own part, we commit to do our best to listen better to
survivors, humbly acknowledging that that has not always been the case.
We will implement what is decided at this meeting in terms of the
accountability required of those in authority.
A culture of Safeguarding
We need a different culture in the Church and in our wider society.
We need a culture where children are treasured and where safeguarding is
promoted.
– Education and Health Care: Through the schools and the hospitals
which many of us run, we can make a difference. Those institutions now
have a heightened awareness of the issue of abuse and better protocols
and higher standards of protection are in place. Children in these
places are more secure than ever before. Sometimes, although admittedly
not in all cases, our practices can be a model for others.
– Formation: we will integrate the protection of minors and
vulnerable adults into our formation programmes, ensuring that, at every
stage, appropriate instruction and education is given to both formators
and those in formation. Cultural assumptions must be challenged. As
said earlier, it must be clear that whatever the culture and background,
the abuse of children is never permitted or tolerable.
– Spirituality: We will ask our Spirituality Centres to develop
special outreach to any survivor who wishes to find help in their
struggles with faith and meaning. Finding Jesus in a personal way is
something that can heal us all. But we understand, too, that those who
have been abused by priests or religious may want to stay far distant
from the Church and from those who represent the Church. We do know that
there are some survivors who want to make this journey of healing and
we will try humbly to journey with them. A spirituality that emphasizes
personal growth and healing is for many survivors a special gift and
grace. Traditional ways of speaking of sin need particular attention.
Those who have been abused often carry a sense of guilt, shame, and even
sin. In reality, however, they are the ones who have been sinned
against.
These and other steps are ways in which our work as religious can help the efforts of the Church.
Conversion
Pope Francis rightly attacks the culture of clericalism which has
hindered our fight against abuse and indeed is one of the root causes.
In addition, the strong sense of family in our Orders and Congregations –
something usually so positive – can make it harder to condemn and
expose abuse. It resulted in a misplaced loyalty, errors in judgment,
slowness to act, denial and at times, cover-up. We still need conversion
and we want to change. We want to act with humility. We want to see our
blind spots. We want to name any abuse of power. We commit to engage in
a journey with those we serve, moving forward with transparency and
trust, honesty and sincere repentance.
Resources
Resources are always an issue. A glance at societies that have put
child protection practices in place shows that even government health
services struggle with providing adequate resources. We need to
collaborate with each other in this area so that resources are used
effectively and efficiently. The UISG and USG will work to ensure that
Congregations cooperate so that we reach out in the most effective way
to survivors in their journey of healing. Formation and ongoing
formation can perhaps be the best areas where we can work together. The
screening of candidates who join religious life is also something we can
collaborate on, identifying best practices. This screening should be
compulsory and of the highest quality.
A plea for the Involvement of parents and of women
We ask the help of parents in our fight against abuse. They have a
natural instinct for the protection of children that is indispensable.
Their advice, their support, their expertise and their challenge to us
will be particularly welcome. In particular, we underline the role of
mothers. It is fair to say that if women had been asked for their advice
and assistance in the evaluation of cases, stronger, faster and more
effective action would have been taken. Our ways of handling allegations
would have been different, and victims and their families would have
been spared a great deal of suffering.
A message to Survivors
Lastly, but most importantly, we want to send a message directly to
survivors and their families. We acknowledge that there was an
inadequate attempt to deal with this issue and a shameful lack of
capacity to understand your pain. We offer our sincerest apologies and
our sorrow. We ask you to believe in our goodwill and in our sincerity.
We invite you to work with us to put in place new structures to ensure
that the risks are minimized.
This meeting will focus on the Protection of Minors. However, recent
media attention has also focused on the abuse and exploitation of
religious sisters, seminarians, and candidates in formation houses. This
is a matter of grave and shocking concern. We pledge ourselves to do
all in our power to find an effective response. We want to ensure that
those who generously apply to join religious orders or who are trained
in seminaries live in places of safety where their vocation is nourished
and where their desire to love God and others is helped to grow to
maturity.
As the meeting on safeguarding starts, we ask pardon of all for our
failures and repeat that we stand with the Holy Father. We commit our
efforts to working with him so that the Church can move forward in a
coherent, credible and unified way, a way that is genuinely healing,
truly renewed, with new eyes to see and new ears to hear.
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten