Cardinal O’Malley: ‘We want children to be safe’

By Christopher Wells

In the ten years since its foundation by Pope Francis, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors (PCPM) has grown considerably, from a small group of dedicated volunteers and staff to a group of highly qualified men and women committed to safeguarding in the Church.

“We’ve been very blessed by the extraordinary commitment of the members of the Commission,” PCPM President Cardinal Seán O’Malley told Vatican News in an interview following the Commission’s audience with the Holy Father on Thursday.

The Cardinal emphasized the value of lay members of the Commission, especially women, as well as the important contributions of victims and their parents.

‘The Commission has accomplished a lot’

Reviewing the work of the PCPM in the past decade, Cardinal O’Malley highlighted the meetings organized by the Commission between Pope Francis and victims of abuse; recommendations about the accountability of bishops that resulted in legislation including Come una madre amorevole and Vos estis lux mundi; and the summit of presidents of Bishops' Conferences on abuse in the Church.

The Cardinal also pointed to the ongoing Memorare initiative, aimed at providing assistance for countries lacking the human and material resources necessary for effective safeguarding. The initiative provides funding for safeguarding work and helps ensure the presence of personnel for screening and training of pastoral workers as well as for pastoral outreach for victims.

Memorare and similar initiatives are aimed at building relationships with bishops and with Bishops' Conferences, so that the Commission can be seen as a partner rather than an adversary in fostering a “culture of safeguarding within the Church.”

“So I think the Commission has accomplished a lot,” the PCPM President said.

Pope Francis met Thursday with members of the Commission

‘We want children to be safe’

Cardinal O’Malley noted that much of the Commission’s current focus is on the global south, hoping to ensure that local Churches have the necessary resources and training to combat abuse.

This, he said, involves developing policies and guidelines to ensure a response that is consistent throughout the Church, and that respects the needs and rights of victims, the accused, the community, the Church, and the civil government.

The Cardinal emphasized, too, the importance of “a huge educational campaign everywhere around issues of safeguarding” and centred on the prevention of abuse.

“We want children to be safe,” said Cardinal O’Malley. “We want the children and the parents to have confidence that when their children are in a Catholic school or in a Catholic parish, they are safe.”

Responding to the idea that safeguarding is a distraction to the Church’s mission, the President of the PCPM insisted that, “We will not be able to be successful in our mission to evangelize if we do not have the trust of the people, if we cannot prove to them that they’re important to us and the safety of their children is a priority to us.”

The task of the Commission

Asked about criticisms of the Commission, Cardinal O’Malley recognized that some people are impatient with the slow pace of the Church’s response to the crisis of abuse within the Church.

With regard specifically to the PCPM, the Cardinal said unrealistic expectations rooted in a misunderstanding of the Commission’s competence “have put us in the crosshairs.” He noted that the Commission was not established to deal with particular cases: “That was never our competence.”

Instead, the Commission was tasked with making recommendations and others on how to improve the Church’s response to sexual abuse.

Nonetheless, the Commission has worked to help victims by helping them get in touch with those who can help them. “Certainly, listening to the voice of victims is a very important part of what our mission is,” Cardinal O’Malley said.

Assisting the local Churches

At the same time, an important part of the PCPM’s mandate is to assist local Churches in responding to victims, as well as to assist them in prevention and training.

PCPM Secretary Father Andrew Small, OMI, noted the numerous “memoranda of understanding” signed between the Commission and national Bishops' Conferences to date. These aim at promoting a consistent “One Church” response, ensuring that resources exist in the local Churches to accompany victims.

“That’s obviously difficult for those [Churches] that are resource-poor and don’t have all the experts” necessary to “welcome” victims. “We’re helping to fix that,” Fr. Small said, adding, “That’s not going to happen overnight, but we’re making great strides.”

The right to be told the truth

Cardinal O’Malley also noted efforts to offer greater transparency in the Church with regard to the handling of abuse, pointing to earlier recommendations to make changes to the so-called “pontifical secret” as well as ongoing efforts to provide clarity when bishops are removed from office.

“So, yes, transparency is very, very important,” the Cardinal asserted, adding, “Trust cannot be restored unless we have transparency at all levels of the Church.”

Father Small concurred, saying that it has become clear that “what people want more than anything else is to be told the truth.”

“I think people do have the right to be told the truth,” he continued. “And sometimes, as leaders, we’re afraid of trusting people with the truth—but we can’t be. If we don’t trust people with the truth, they won’t trust us. And I think that’s sort of the frontier around transparency, honesty, and openness that we sort of need to work on a lot more.”

A voice for victims

At the conclusion of the interview, Cardinal O’Malley emphasized, “The most important part of our mission is to try to be a voice for the victims, and to work hard so that this will be a priority everywhere in the Church.”

Evangelization, he repeated, “will be an impossible task if we can’t restore people’s trust in us by proving to people that their children are our priority and their safety is our highest goal."