At the heart of safeguarding is the victim-survivor

By Kielce Gussie

Sexual abuse, how to prevent it and accompany victims and survivors are topics not isolated to one country or another. Some countries across Europe, including France, England, Spain, and Ireland released reports on cases of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church—showcasing just how widespread the pandemic is.

From November 13-15, in Rome, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors’ conference on safeguarding in Europe became the setting for people from all walks of life to share their experiences and how important it is to network and collaborate with others in addressing abuse.

Mass being celebrated during the three day safeguarding conference

“We don't want to work in silos,” the Lead Safeguarding Bishop for the Catholic Church in England and Wales, Bishop Paul Mason said, “I think the better we are at sharing good practice, learning from our successes and failures is better for all of us.”

An exchange of experiences

100 people from 25 European countries brought their experiences of addressing sexual abuse in the Church. For example, in England and Wales, the Bishops’ Conference has been working with an independent agency to audit, review, and monitor safeguarding in church entities. The Catholic Safeguarding Standards Agency is made of a board with independent and church members to define a common set of standards to protect children and vulnerable adults across all the dioceses and religious communities.

Archbishop Eamonn Martin, President of the Irish Bishops’ Conference, explained the Church in Ireland offers two types of outreaches for victim-survivors in their healing process—one geared to offering psychological support and the other spiritual. “One of the saddest things about abuse,” he said, “was that it was the people who were very close to the Church.” The archbishop described the accompaniment needed to walk with victim-survivors whose trust in the Church has been destroyed.

In the Archdiocese of Malta, the Safeguarding Commission has focused on prevention and training. “We really believe and hope that the more preventive work that we do and the more that we train people, the less persons would unfortunately end up, victims of abuse,” Mark Pellicano, the head of safeguarding with the Commission explained. The Maltese Commission holds up four values to approaching the accompaniment of victim-survivors: responsibility, accountability, transparency, and integrity.

The three-day conference in Rome was entitled, "Safeguarding in the Catholic Church in Europe"

At the heart of safeguarding: victim-survivors

A common thread throughout the different experiences was a focus on care for the voice of the victim-survivor. Bishop Mason warned against turning safeguarding into an industry. “As we stop seeing the question of safeguarding from a victim survivors’ perspective,” he said, “it's almost as if a heart goes out of the whole thing.”