Pope Francis

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2019-02/council-cardinals-curial-reform-protection-minors-vatiab.html

Council of Cardinals focuses on Curial reform and protection of minors
20 February 2019, 17:26

St Peter's Basilica in Vatican City State
A 3-day meeting of the Council of Cardinal Advisors has focused on two issues in particular: the new Apostolic Constitution and the Vatican meeting on “The protection of minors in the Church”.
By Vatican News

The six Cardinals of the Council of Cardinal Advisors met from 18 to 20 February for their first meeting of 2019. Alessandro Gisotti, ad interim Director of the Holy See Press Office, stated in a briefing that the primary focus of the Council was the re-reading of the draft for the new Apostolic Constitution.

New Apostolic Constitution

The new Constitution, with the working title Predicate evangelium, has been in the works for a long time, but according to Gisotti the text is “practically completed”. What remains is a canonical inspection of the text by the Council’s canon lawyer, Archbishop Marco Mellino.

According to the wishes of the Holy Father, there will be a second round of consultation with, amongst others, the Bishops’ Conferences and the Dicasteries of the Roman Curia. After which the document will be submitted to Pope Francis for his final approval and promulgation.
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2019-02/protection-minors-abuse-victims-in-vatican-vatiab.html

Protection of minors: Meeting of abuse victims in Vatican
20 February 2019, 16:52

Alessandro Gisotti, ad interim Director of Holy See Press Office  (Vatican Media)
 
The text of the Holy See Press Office statement reads as follows:

“As was announced during the course of the Press Conference on 18 February in the Press Office of the Holy See, this morning the Organizing Committee for the Meeting on "The Protection of Minors in the Church" met a group of representatives of victims of sexual abuse by members of the clergy. There were 12 people, men and women, from different parts of the world who belong to various organizations. The meeting lasted a little bit more than two hours. The members of the Committee are very grateful to the victims who participated for their sincerity, the depth and the strength of their testimonies, which will certainly help them to always better understand the gravity and urgency of the difficulties that they will confront during the course of the Meeting.”

https://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/11397/voices-of-survivors-are-the-wounds-inflicted-on-christ-by-the-church-says-scicluna-
20 February 2019, The Tablet
Voices of survivors are the wounds inflicted on Christ by the Church, says Scicluna
by Christopher Lamb

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/in-private-meeting-victims-tell-leaders-of-abuse-summit-we-want-action-26040
In private meeting, victims tell leaders of abuse summit: 'We want action'
By Hannah Brockhaus

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https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/vatican-spokesman-shifts-focus-to-summit-follow-up-before-abuse-meeting-begins-36275

Vatican spokesman shifts focus to summit follow-up before abuse meeting begins

Vatican City, Feb 20, 2019 / 01:00 pm (CNA).- The Vatican has continued to downplay expectations ahead of a summit meeting of bishops in Rome to discuss the ongoing sexual abuse crisis, noting that practical steps in handling abuse will come from subsequent meetings held in Rome and not the three-day session itself.

During a press briefing Wednesday, Alessandro Gisotti, interim director of the Holy See Press Office, reported that a recent meeting of the pope’s C9 Council of Cardinals had listened to a presentation by Fr. Federico Lombardi, SJ regarding the summit.

Lombardi is serving as moderator of the three-day conference on sexual abuse, scheduled to begin Feb. 21.

According to Gisotti, the pope’s senior advisory committee heard from Lombardi that the meeting’s top priority is to underscore the need for the Church to be a “safe place” for minors, and to emphasize the gravity of sexual abuse to bishops from around the world.

Gisotti told the press that after the three-day summit concluded, subsequent meetings would be key to advancing practical reforms, including a meeting between the heads of relevant curial departments and the summit organizing committee members on Feb. 25.
 

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2019-02/protection-minors-meeting-editorial-tornielli-vatiab.html

Editorial
Protection of Minors Meeting: Four days that will leave their mark
20 February 2019, 16:13

Bishops gathered in the Synod Hall
The four-day “Protection of Minors in the Church” Meeting, taking place from February 21 to 24 February in the Vatican, offers new opportunities for awareness, listening to victims, responsibility, accountability, and transparency.
By Andrea Tornielli

The Meeting on the “Protection of Minors” is destined to leave its mark. Even before the necessary and concrete indications are given regarding how to face the scourge of sexual abuse, the fact of increasing awareness throughout the Church of the dramatic and indelible consequences of abuse will have consequences.

The voices of children and young people, the helpless victims of these horrific acts of violence, will not remain unheard. Their cry is destined to break the barrier of silence that has stood in the way of understanding for too long.

Echoing the personal witness of the last two Popes, who met regularly with survivors, listened to them, wept and prayed with them, the first objective of the Meeting is to increase awareness that the abuse of minors by clergy and religious is an abominable act. An act that pierces the hearts of children entrusted by their parents to priests to educate them in the faith. It is not primarily a question of laws and norms, or of bureaucratic quibbles or statistics. It is about listening to the victims, trying to share their painful drama, making their devastating wounds our own. What is needed is a change of mentality so that no one pretends not to see; or to cover up; to downplay, ever again.

For the first time, the issue will be considered at a global level, according to different experiences and cultures. On Day One, the main theme will be that of the “responsibility” of Bishops in their pastoral, spiritual and juridical tasks. Day Two will address "accountability" and discuss solutions to be adopted in accordance with Canon Law to  evaluate cases in which pastors have failed in their responsibilities and acted with negligence. Day Three will be dedicated to “transparency”, in the internal procedures of the Church, towards civil authorities but, above all, towards the People of God. Their contribution to making the places frequented by minors safer is indispensable. Pope Francis will conclude the Meeting on Sunday, after Holy Mass celebrated in the Sala Regia
 

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An informative Vatican website for the summit on abuse and child protection...
"MEETING
THE PROTECTION OF MINORS IN THE CHURCH
Vatican, February 21-24, 2019"

https://twitter.com/Cindy_Wooden
 
Cindy Wooden‏Verified account @Cindy_Wooden · Feb 18

The program for the Vatican summit on abuse & child protection, including the names of main speakers and their topics is here: http://www.pbc2019.org/meeting/program

Cindy Wooden‏Verified account @Cindy_Wooden · Feb 18 

The website the Vatican has set up in conjunction with the summit on abuse and child protection is now live. Info & speeches from the meeting itself will be added as the mtg progresses: http://www.pbc2019.org/home
 

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Meeting:  The Protection of Minors in the Church
Vatican, February 21-24, 2019"

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-02/protection-minors-pope-opening-hear-cry-little-ones-vatiab.html#.XG6O4a8aKTI.twitter
Pope: Hear the cry of the little ones who ask for justice
21 February 2019, 10:14

Pope Francis opens the Protection of Minors in the Church Meeting   (Vatican Media)
Pope Francis opens the “Protection of Minors in the Church” Meeting in the Vatican telling the Bishops and Religious gathered, “the Holy People of God look to us and expect from us not simple and predictable condemnations, but concrete and effective measures to be established”.
By Lydia O’Kane

The “Protection of Minors in the Church” Meeting began on Thursday with prayers, readings, and brief periods of silent reflection, before Pope Francis gave his opening remarks in the Vatican’s Synod Hall. In front of the Patriarchs, Cardinals, Archbishops, Bishops, Religious Superiors and other leaders, the Pope told them that, “in the face of the plague of sexual abuse perpetrated by men of the Church against children”, he had called them together so, “we may listen to the Holy Spirit and with docility to His guidance we may hear the cry of the little ones who ask for justice.”
 
The text of the Pope’s introduction at the inauguration of the event
https://zenit.org/articles/we-need-to-be-concrete-pope-demands-as-he-inaugurates-summit-for-protection-of-minors/
‘We Need to Be Concrete,’ Pope Demands as He Inaugurates Summit for Protection of Minors 
•February 21, 2019 12:22•Deborah Castellano Lubov

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-02/protection-minors-points-of-reflection-vatiab.html
Protection of Minors: Reflection Points
21 February 2019, 15:06

Video at the link below--
Introduction and 1st Relation - Cardinal Tagle 2019-02-21
https://www.youtube.com/user/vatican

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Meeting:  The Protection of Minors in the Church
Vatican, February 21-24, 2019"

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2019-02/protection-minors-tagle-pain-heal-wounds-vatiab.html#.XG6O7LYZTAc.twitter
Protection of minors: Pastors need to touch, heal the wounds of victims
21 February 2019, 11:00

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle. 
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle opened the 3-day Meeting on the Protection of Minors in the Church on Thursday in the Vatican, speaking about the need for pastors to know and feel the pain of abuse victims and heal their wounds.
By Robin Gomes

The figure of the risen yet wounded Jesus is the inspiration and model for the clergy and bishops of how to heal the wounds of minors abused in the Church.

“The abuse of minors by ordained ministers has inflicted wounds not only on the victims but also on their families, the clergy, the Church, the wider society, the perpetrators themselves and the Bishops,” said Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle in his presentation at the start of the 3-day Meeting on the Protection of Minors in the Church, that kicked off on Thursday in the Vatican.

“We humbly and sorrowfully admit, that wounds have been inflicted by us bishops on victims and in fact the entire body of Christ.”

He said that the bishops’ lack of response to the suffering of victims, even to the point of rejecting them and covering up the scandal to protect perpetrators and the institution “has injured our people, leaving a deep wound in our relationship with those we are sent to serve.”
 
https://zenit.org/articles/luis-antonio-g-cardinal-tagle-the-smell-of-the-sheep/
Luis Antonio G. Cardinal Tagle: The Smell of the Sheep 
February 22, 2019 00:05

Video at the link below--
Introduction and 1st Relation - Cardinal Tagle 2019-02-21 (He speaks after the Pope.)
https://www.youtube.com/user/vatican

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Meeting:  The Protection of Minors in the Church
Vatican, February 21-24, 2019

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2019-02/protection-of-minors-victims-abuse-survivors-testimonies-vatiab.html
Protection of Minors: The voices of survivors
21 February 2019, 16:21

Five testimonies from survivors of clerical sexual abuse from across the globe were heard on Thursday during the opening of the Meeting on the "Protection of Minors in the Church".
By Francesca Merlo

The first of five testimonies came from a man from Chile, in South America, and although he was asked to talk about the “pain that comes from sexual abuse”, he chose not to. Because, he said, “everyone knows that sexual abuse leaves tremendous consequences for everyone…the consequences are evident, in all aspects, and remain for the whole of life”.

“Instead” he continued, “I would like to speak about myself as a Catholic, of what happened to me, and of what I would like to say to the Bishops”
 

Transcripts of five video testimonies
https://zenit.org/articles/victims-share-their-stories-with-abuse-summit-participants/
Victims Share Their Stories with Abuse Summit Participants 
•February 22, 2019 00:05•Jim Fair

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Meeting:  The Protection of Minors in the Church
Vatican, February 21-24, 2019

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2019-02/protection-minors-church-meeting-archbishop-scicluna-vatiab.html#.XG6O9hLFtHI.twitter
Protection of Minors: Archb. Scicluna pledges to protect minors 'at all costs'
21 February 2019, 11:09

The Protection of Minors in the Church summit at the Vatican  (ANSA)
Arcbhishop Charles Jude Scicluna on Thursday addressed the 3-day Meeting on “The Protection of Minors in the Church” taking place in the Vatican and pledged to “protect minors at all cost”.
By Linda Bordoni

Archbishop Charles Scicluna's firmly grounded address to Presidents of Bishops' Conferences and other participants at the Vatican meeting provided those present with a vast panorama of existing practices, procedures and tools as well as a pledge to make sure that everything will be done, in the Church, to avoid the crimes and the wounds caused in the past.

Scicluna, who delivered the second presentation at the meeting, entitled “Taking Responsibility for Processing Cases of Sexual Abuse and for Prevention of Abuse”, is the Archbishop  of  Malta  and  Adjunct  Secretary  of  the  Congregation  for  the Doctrine of the Faith.

Day one of the event has "Responsibility" as its main theme.

On behalf of the Holy See, Scicluna has been charged with conducting investigations into sexual abuse by clergy. He is also President of the canonical team (The College for Recourses) dealing with appeals filed by clergy accused of abuse.

In his long address on the first day of the meeting, Archbishop Scicluna highlighted the fact that the way Bishops exercise their ministry at the service of justice in our communities is one of the fundamental tests of their stewardship and, indeed, of their fidelity to the Church.
 
https://zenit.org/articles/archbishop-scicluna-on-taking-responsibility/
Archbishop Scicluna on Taking Responsibility 
For Processing Cases of Sexual Abuse Crisis and for Prevention of Abuse
February 22, 2019 00:05

Video at the link below--
https://www.youtube.com/user/vatican

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Meeting:  The Protection of Minors in the Church
Vatican, February 21-24, 2019

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2019-02/protection-minors-meeting-abuse-cardinal-salazar-vatiab.html
Protection of Minors: Card. Salazar says bishops’ responsibility ‘inescapable’
21 February 2019, 16:16

Pope Francis and Presdents of Bishops' Conferences at Meeting on The Protection of Minors in the Church
The Archbishop of Bogotá addressed the meeting on “The Protection of Minors in the Church” on Thursday afternoon focusing on the responsibility of the Bishop to act decisively in all cases of abuse.
By Linda Bordoni

Cardinal Rubén Salazar Gómez said no justification exists for not denouncing and forcefully confronting any abuse that presents itself within the Church.

He was speaking in the afternoon of Day One at the “Protection of Minors in the Church” Meeting in the Vatican.

The title of his presentation, “The Church in a moment of crisis - Facing conflicts and tensions and acting decisively”, reflected the theme of the day dedicated to “Responsibility”.

Salazar, who is the President of the Latin American Episcopal Council, introduced his speech pointing to clericalism as one of the roots in the clerical sex abuse crisis afflicting the Church.
 
https://zenit.org/articles/cardinal-ruben-salazar-gomez-on-the-responsibilities-of-the-bishop/
Cardinal Rubén Salazar Gómez on the Responsibilities of the Bishop 
Dealing with Conflict and Acting Decisively
February 22, 2019 00:05

Video at the link below--
https://www.youtube.com/user/vatican

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Meeting:  The Protection of Minors in the Church
Vatican, February 21-24, 2019

Photo at the link
https://twitter.com/FatherRosica
 
Thomas Rosica Retweeted 
Rosa Flores‏Verified account @RosaFlores · 12h  12 hours ago 
Pope gives bishops more homework on day two of historic summit. Fr Lombardi held up #UNICEF reports that, he said, #popeFrancis wanted the bishops to have as a resource. #pbc2019
 

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Meeting:  The Protection of Minors in the Church
Vatican, February 21-24, 2019

Photo Gallery at the link
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-02/protection-minors-meeting-gracias-vatiab.html
Card Gracias: Collegial Church stands for justice, healing
22 February 2019, 10:17

Cardinal Gracias in the Vatican's Synod Hall  (Vatican Media)
Opening the proceedings of the “Protection of Minors” meeting on Friday, Indian Cardinal Oswald Gracias speaks on “Accountability in a Collegial and Synodal Church”.

A collegial Church stands for justice and healing. Those were the words of Cardinal Oswald Gracias, who gave an intervention on this the 2nd day of the meeting which is devoted to accountability. The Cardinal said that, in order to address the scourge of sexual abuse in the Church, a path of “collegiality and synodality” was needed. The Cardinal explained how synodality can truly be lived, by incorporating all decisions and the resulting measures at national, regional, diocesan and even parochial  levels in the Church.
 
English text of presentation
https://zenit.org/articles/cardinal-gracias-on-accountability-in-a-collegial-and-synodal-church/
Cardinal Gracias on Accountability in a Collegial and Synodal Church 
February 22, 2019 15:40

Video at the link below--
Opening prayer and 1st Relation - Cardinal Gracias 2019-02-22 (The presentation is in English)
https://www.youtube.com/user/vatican

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Meeting:  The Protection of Minors in the Church
Vatican, February 21-24, 2019

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2019-02/protection-minors-church-meeting-cardinal-cupich-vatiab.html
Protection of Minors: Card. Cupich focuses on dual realities to be pursued
22 February 2019, 11:13

Cardinal Blase Cupich delivers his presentation at the Meeting on Protection of Minors in the Church
Cardinal Blase Cupich delivered his address on the morning of the 2nd day of the Meeting on the Protection of Minors in the Church calling for the commitment, on the part of the Church, to engage in dual of realities.
By Linda Bordoni

The 3-day “Protection of Minors in the Church” Meeting, called by Pope Francis to examine procedures to be put in place to enforce responsibility, accountability and transparency in the Church, is in its second day in the Vatican.

Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, delivered his presentation entitled “Synodality: Jointly Responsible” on the day dedicated to the theme of “Accountability.”

Reflecting on the current exercise in collegiality highlighted by the meeting, he said the bishops must also consider the challenge in the light of synodality, “especially as we explore with the entire Church the structural, legal and institutional aspects of accountability”.
 
English text of presentation
https://zenit.org/articles/cardinal-cupich-synodality-jointly-responsible/
Cardinal Cupich: Synodality: Jointly Responsible 
February 22, 2019 16:00

Video at the link below--
2nd Relation - Cardinal Cupich 2019-02-22 (The presentation is in English)
https://www.youtube.com/user/vatican

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Meeting:  The Protection of Minors in the Church
Vatican, February 21-24, 2019

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2019-02/protection-minors-press-briefing-day-2-morning-session-vatiab.html
Protection of Minors: Press Briefing on Day Two
22 February 2019, 16:06

The Protection of Minors in the Church” Meeting in the Vatican entered its second day on Friday. The day’s theme was “Accountability” and the Press Briefing included testimonies from both Cardinal Cupich and Cardinal O’Malley.
By Vatican News

The Press Briefing began with the Moderator, Jesuit Fr Federico Lombardi, describing the “atmosphere” of the Meeting on “The Protection of Minors in the Church” as being “positive, constructive, useful, and necessary”.

He made a point of mentioning the cooperation between the Holy See and Marta Santos Pais, Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on “Violence against Children”. This United Nations Office has already shared statistics and details on its own child protection efforts, and these were distributed among the Bishops in the Vatican on Friday.

Fr Lombardi also spoke of how the “21 Points” Pope Francis presented to the Bishops on Day One, have already become a basis for discussion and reflection within their working groups, as they try to put into practice the Pope’s call for “concrete” suggestions and results.

Summaries

The Prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Communication, Paolo Ruffini, provided summaries, first of the Plenary Sessions, and then of Thursday afternoon’s Working Groups. Issues arising in both included the importance of working together in a collegial manner, and of recognizing that abuse is a crime, regardless of the culture of any specific country. One out-take of the morning Session was that the Church’s commitment to applying rules and guidelines to protect minors has led to a decline in the number of abuse cases in many parts of the world. However, it was also stressed that discussing sexuality cannot be considered taboo, and needs to be dealt with as part of seminary formation.

Thursday’s small working groups engaged with a variety of issues, but focused on the need to prioritize victims and to work towards breaking the cycle that causes some who have been abused, to become abusers themselves. They also discussed the need to create combined task forces to assist smaller Churches with fewer resources.

Focusing on the victims

Cardinal Sean Patrick O’Malley, Archbishop of Boston, addressed the Press Briefing, affirming how “nothing is more important” than addressing this issue of protecting minors. He too spoke of focusing on the victims, and described his personal experience of meeting with abuse survivors as “life changing”. It is only when we meet with victims, said Cardinal O’Malley, that “Church leadership learns the havoc wreaked on peoples’ lives” by these experienc
 
Video at the link below--
Briefing 2019-02-22
https://www.youtube.com/user/vatican

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Meeting:  The Protection of Minors in the Church
Vatican, February 21-24, 2019

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2019-02/protection-minors-omalley-interview-witness-laity-synodality-vat.html
Protection of Minors: Card. O’Malley on witness of victims, role of laity
22 February 2019, 15:07

Card. Sean Patrick O'Malley at the Meeting on the Protection of Minors in the Church.
In an interview during the ongoing Meeting on the Protection of Minors in the Church, US Cardinal Seán Patrick O'Malley underscored the importance of the witness of the victims of abuse and the role of the laity in responding to the crisis of abuse of minors.
By Robin Gomes

Cardinal Seán Patrick O'Malley, the Archbishop of Boston, Massachusetts, USA, is the president of the Vatican’s Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.  Speaking on the sidelines of the February 21-24 Meeting on the Protection of Minors in the Church in the Vatican, the Capuchin cardinal explained to Fabio Colagrande of Vatican News the importance of hearing about the ordeal that victims of clerical sexual abuse go through.

Card. O’Malley said the “witness of the victims is always so powerful” and it is very important for bishops to understand the pain and the seriousness of the problem.   This is why, he said that bishops were asked to meet and listen to sex abuse survivors in their countries, as a preparation for the Rome meeting.
 

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Meeting:  The Protection of Minors in the Church
Vatican, February 21-24, 2019

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2019-02/protection-minorsl-abuse-cardinal-marx-meets-survivors-vatiab.html
Protection Minors: Cardinal Marx meets with survivors of abuse
22 February 2019, 17:11

Cardinal Reinhard Marx
Survivors of clerical sexual abuse continue to be at the centre of the meeting on the "Protection of Minors in the Church".

Today, Friday 22nd February, at lunchtime, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Archbishop of Munich and Freising and President of the German Bishops’ Conference, met, privately and in a confidential setting, with 16 survivors of abuse from the ECA (Ending Clerical Abuse) group.
 
Cardinal Marx informed the Holy Father of the contents of the meeting.

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Meeting:  The Protection of Minors in the Church
Vatican, February 21-24, 2019V

Video, with English commentary and translation, at the link
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2019-02/protection-minors-accountability-communio-ghisoni-vatiab.html
Protection of Minors: Accountability must be based on “Communio”
22 February 2019, 17:04

Dr Linda Ghisoni speaks on the topic of "Communio": To work together  (Vatican Media )
The first female speaker at the Meeting for the Protection of Minors, Dr Linda Ghisoni talks about the importance of all aspects of the Church working together to confront the worldwide crisis of the sexual abuse of children.
By Vatican News

In her address, Dr Linda Ghisoni, the Undersecretary for the Laity at the Dicastery for the Laity, Family, and Life, said:

I believe that through active reciprocal listening, we commit ourselves to work so that in the future we no longer need another crisis-mode event such as this meeting: that the Church, the People of God, might competently, responsibly and lovingly take care of the persons who have been affected by what has happened so that prevention does not end up being an idealized plan but might become a normal pastoral attitude.

Dr Ghisoni’s talk was focused on the Day 2 theme of “accountability”. In the first part of her speech, Ghisoni spoke of “knowledge of abuse and the extent of abuse” as the fundamental starting point for accountability. However, accountability must also involve a dialogue concerning decisions made, including “evaluating and reporting” the decisions of church leaders. Accountability in the Church, she said, is not so much a question of sociological norms, but of the theological concept of communion.
 
English text of the presentation
https://zenit.org/articles/117548/
Abuse Summit Address by Linda Ghisoni, Undersecretary for the Laity of the Dicastery for the Laity, Family, and Life 
Vital to Rely on Contributions of Laity, Involve All People of God
February 22, 2019 16:41

YouTube video at the link below--
3rd Relation - Dr. Ghisoni 2019-02-22
https://www.youtube.com/user/vatican

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Meeting:  The Protection of Minors in the Church
Vatican, February 21-24, 2019V

Pope Francis: Woman is the image of the Church that is Mother
22 February 2019, 19:49

Presentation by Dr Linda Ghisoni  (Vatican Media)
During the afternoon session of the "Protection of Minors in the Church" Meeting in the Vatican, Pope Francis gives an impromptu reflection on woman as the image of the Church.
By Vatican News

For the first time since his opening address, Pope Francis on Friday afternoon took the floor to speak to the participants at the Meeting for the Protection of Minors in the Church.

The Pope’s off-the-cuff remarks followed the speech by Dr Linda Ghisoni, the first woman to deliver a presentation during the General Assemblies. “Listening to Dr Ghisoni,” the Pope said, “I heard the Church speaking about herself.” He explained, “Inviting a woman to speak about the wounds of the Church is to invite the Church to speak about herself, about the wounds she has.”

Pope Francis said that this is “not just a question of style, the feminine genius reflected in the Church, which is woman.” Nor is it simply a matter of giving women a greater role in the Church, although this is important. Rather, he said, “it's a question of integrating the woman as the figure of the Church into our thinking. And also of thinking of the Church with the categories of a woman.”

Below, please find an unofficial translation of Pope Francis’ remarks:
 

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Meeting:  The Protection of Minors in the Church
Vatican, February 21-24, 2019V

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/church/news/2019-02/protection-minors-survivor-testimony-day-3-abuse-vatiab.html
Survivor testimony: Victims are not guilty of their silence!
23 February 2019, 11:38

A survivor of clerical sexaul abuse tells her story at the conclusion of the second day of the Meeting on the Protection of Minors in the Church.
By Vatican News

“I wanted to tell you about when I was a child,” she said, “but there is no point. Because when I was 11 years old, a priest from my parish destroyed my life.”

“Since then, I, who loved colouring books and doing somersaults on the grass, have not existed.”

The second day of the Meeting on the Protection of Minors in the Church concluded with the harrowing testimony of a European woman, who told how she had been abused by her parish priest. “The abuse went on for five years,” she said. “No one noticed.”
 

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Meeting:  The Protection of Minors in the Church
Vatican, February 21-24, 2019

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2019-02/protection-minors-church-meeting-veronica-openibo-vatiab.html
Protection of Minors: Sr. Openibo ‘Church needs openness and transparency'
23 February 2019, 13:27

Sr Veronica Openibo speaks during the 3rd day of the meeting on "The Protection of Minors in the Church"
Nigerian sister Veronica Openibo delivered an address on the morning of the 3rd day of the Meeting on “The Protection of Minors in the Church”, calling for transparency and proposing a way forward on how to overcome the abuse crisis in the Church.
By Festus Tarawalie

Sr. Veronica, who is also the current Superior General of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, based her presentation on the theme: “Openness to the World as a Consequence of the Ecclesial Mission".

Commenting on the theme, she said the “Clerical sex abuse is a crisis that has reduced the credibility of the Church when transparency should be the hallmark of mission as followers of Jesus Christ”.

In the face of this disturbing crisis, she continued, the Church must do everything “to protect its young and vulnerable members.” The focus, she said, should not to be on “fear or disgrace but rather on the Church’s mission to serve with integrity and justice”.

She proposed a strong “zero tolerance” policy with regard to sexual abuse.
 
English text of the presentation
https://zenit.org/articles/sr-veronica-openibo-shcj-focus-on-mission-not-fear/
Sr. Veronica Openibo, SHCJ: Focus on Mission, not Fear 
February 23, 2019 16:50

Video at the link below--
Opening prayer and 1st Relation - Sr. Openibo, SHCJ 2019-02-23 (The presentation is in English)
https://www.youtube.com/user/vatican