Pope Leo XIV received the participants in the Plenary Assembly of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors in audience this Monday, gathered in the Vatican to address the work of preventing abuses within the Church. This body, created by Pope Francis in 2014 and currently integrated into the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, has the mission of advising the Holy See on the promotion of prevention and protection policies for minors and vulnerable persons in dioceses and ecclesial communities around the world.
In his address, the Pontiff insisted that the protection of minors and vulnerable persons cannot be reduced to protocols or procedures, but must become a true “culture of care” that permeates all ecclesial life. Leo XIV also emphasized the importance of listening to victims and strengthening cooperation between the various bodies of the Holy See to advance prevention and disciplinary responsibility in the face of abuses.
We now present the full speech of Leo XIV:
Welcome, dear brothers and sisters:
I am pleased to greet you all on this day as you gather for your Plenary Assembly. I thank the new President—still new—His Excellency Msgr. Thibault Verny, president of the Commission, for his leadership and dedication. And I thank the secretary, His Excellency Msgr. Luis Manuel Alí Herrera, for his fervent service, as well as the deputy secretary, Dr. Teresa Morris Kettelkamp, for her valuable contributions to the Commission’s work. Likewise, I express my gratitude to all of you, members and collaborators, for your service to the Church in protecting children, adolescents, and persons in situations of vulnerability. It is a demanding service, sometimes silent and often burdensome, but essential for the life of the Church and for building an authentic culture of care.
My predecessor, Pope Francis, of venerable memory, wanted to permanently situate your service within the Roman Curia to remind the entire Church that the prevention of abuses is not an optional task, but a constitutive dimension of the Church’s mission. Since my election, I have been greatly encouraged by the dialogue you have fostered with the Disciplinary Section of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, because in this way, you are achieving the desired goal: that prevention—one of your responsibilities—and disciplinary oversight—exercised by that Dicastery—be united in a truly synergistic and effective manner.
Your mission is to help ensure that abuse is prevented. However, prevention is never merely a set of protocols or procedures. It is about helping to form, throughout the Church, a culture of care, in which the protection of minors and persons in situations of vulnerability is not seen as an obligation imposed from outside, but as a natural expression of faith. Therefore, it requires a process of conversion in which the sufferings of others are heard and move us to act. In this sense, the experiences of victims and survivors are essential points of reference. Although they are certainly painful and difficult to hear, these experiences powerfully bring to light the truth and teach us humility as we strive to help victims and survivors. At the same time, it is precisely through the acknowledgment of the pain that has been caused that a credible path of hope and renewal opens up.
Another important element of your service is the incorporation of a multidisciplinary and systematic approach. As part of the Roman Curia, within the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, you have a clear role that places you in dialogue with the Dicasteries and other institutions that exercise their responsibility in the various areas related to protection. I hope that you continue to achieve even greater cooperation with them, so that they enrich with their expertise the work you do. At the same time, they too can be enriched by the experience that the Commission has acquired in these eleven years of service, particularly through the attentive and sincere listening that you offer to victims, survivors, and their families. In this sense, the Annual Report of the Commission is a tool of great importance. It represents an exercise of truth and responsibility, as well as of hope and prudence, which must go hand in hand for the good of the Church. Hope prevents us from falling into discouragement; prudence preserves us from improvisation and superficiality when addressing the prevention of abuse.
Ordinaries and major superiors also have their own responsibility that cannot be delegated. Listening to victims and accompanying them must find concrete expression in every institution and ecclesial community. I encourage you to continue being an instrument for them, so that no community within the Church feels alone in this task. In fact, the help you offer through the Memorare initiative is invaluable. Supporting local Churches, especially where resources or experience are lacking, means giving concrete expression to ecclesial solidarity. I look forward to receiving additional information in your third Annual Report on the encouraging progress already made, as well as on the areas that still require further development.
The commitment of the Commission to the Church at all levels, to victims, survivors and their families, as well as to collaborators from civil society, has driven you to deepen your study in two areas of protection that are experiencing rapid development: the concept of vulnerability in relation to abuse and the prevention of child abuse facilitated by technology in the digital space. By reading these “signs of the times,” you help the Church to face the challenges of protection with courage and to respond with clear pastoral care and structural renewal. This is already taking concrete shape in the development of a framework of universal guidelines. I look forward to receiving the final proposal so that, after appropriate study and discernment, it can be published.
Dear friends, all your efforts demonstrate that your mission is not simply the establishment of a formal process, but a sign of communion and shared responsibility. Before concluding, allow me to reiterate that the protection of minors and persons in situations of vulnerability is not an isolated area of ecclesial life, but a dimension that permeates pastoral care, formation, governance, and discipline. Every step forward on this path is a step toward Christ and toward a more evangelical and authentic Church.
I entrust your service to the loving intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, and I impart the Apostolic Blessing upon you from my heart, as a pledge of wisdom and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you very much.
[Our Father, Blessing]
Thank you very much for your service, and may you have, during these days in Rome, an encounter full of blessing. And thank you for everything you are doing to help the Church in our mission. Thank you.