Catholic Church still fails to ensure that clerical abuse is reported, says Pope Francis commission

() – Parts of the Roman Catholic Church continue to fail to ensure that sexual abuse committed by clerics are properly reported, the child protection commission of the Pope Francisexpressing concern about the “lack of transparency” in the Vatican’s handling of the cases.

In its first annual report, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors examined the safeguarding protocols of bishops in 17 different parts of the world, along with how the Church’s central administration processes cases.

“At times, the commission found a worrying lack of reporting structures and support services for victims and survivors,” the report says. “The commission found persistent concerns regarding transparency in the legal procedures and processes of the Roman Curia (the central administration of the Church). “The commission notes that this will continue to foster mistrust among the faithful, especially among the community of victims and survivors,” the report adds.

The preparation of the report was led by Maud de Boer Buquicchio, former UN special rapporteur on the sexual exploitation of children and a member of the commission established by the pope in 2014. Francis asked the commission two years ago to prepare an annual report on child protection initiatives, aiming to help bring “transparency and accountability” to the issue of abuse.

The report examined Papua New Guinea, one of the countries the pope visited last month, finding that the bishops of Papua New Guinea and the neighboring Solomon Islands have “inadequate provision for different types of victim/survivor support services.” and that “victims/survivors do not play a direct role in the formulation of the Church’s safeguarding policy.”

Meanwhile, in Cameroon, the commission found that “cultural challenges generate a hesitancy to address the problem of abuse head-on” and that “this hesitancy is shared by some Church authorities.”

The commission’s report includes criticism of the Vatican office responsible for dealing with cases of sexual abuse by clerics, stating that the lack of transparency and slow procedures “can be a source of retraumatization” for victims. He indicated that this body, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, has only “publicly shared limited statistical information about its activities.” As for the Vatican office responsible for clergy, the report cited a concern that “psychological evaluations” for future priests “may be minimized in selection procedures.”

The report also cites concerns about anti-abuse procedures within the church’s global charitable arm, Caritas, and mentions the case of Luk Delft, who reported was accused of abusing children while he was director of Caritas in the Central African Republic.

The Vatican commission for the protection of minors is led by Cardinal Sean O’Malley, the retired archbishop of Boston, who has played a significant role in the Church’s response to the plague of clerical sexual abuse. Although the report highlights several concerns about how abuse is being handled, it notes that there are “many other cases where the Commission was deeply encouraged by the robust and professional safeguarding regime”.