‘”Vos estis lux mundi.” “You are the light of the world…” Our Lord Jesus Christ calls every believer to be a shining example of virtue, integrity and holiness.’With these words Pope Francis began his Apostolic letter dated 7 May to Catholics worldwide – a letter in which he laid out new procedural rules to combat sexual abuse. The Pontiff’s edict, or Motu Proprio, which will subsequently become Church law, followed the meeting on the Protection of Minors at the Vatican in February this year, and it underlined the need for all clergy and religious to disclose any cases of abuse to ‘the competent civil authorities’.
Moreover, it mentioned specifically the need for Bishops to assume this responsibility with every diocese required to have a system enabling the public to submit reports easily. ‘This responsibility falls, above all, on the successors of the Apostles, chosen by God to be pastoral leaders of his People, and demands from them a commitment to follow closely the path of the Divine Master,’ wrote Pope Francis.
The publication of the Pope’s letter coincided with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales’s spring meeting in Valladolid, Spain, which focused on safeguarding training.
The Bishops, whose number included the Archbishop of Liverpool, Malcolm McMahon, heard the testimonies of survivors of abuse as part of this process, and said in a statement: ‘These have been days which have touched every bishop very deeply. We have listened to the deep and lasting confusion, pain and despair, inflicted by the people who abused them. We have listened with horror to the ways in which precious gifts of our faith have been used to groom and dominate both children and vulnerable adults in crimes of abuse. We humbly ask forgiveness of all who carry this pain, for our slowness and defensiveness and for our neglect of both preventative and restorative actions.’
The Bishops also welcomed Pope Francis’s intervention – and the hope it brings of a fresh chapter. They said: ‘For us bishops, these days are a watershed. Now we accept with renewed vigour the challenges that lie ahead. We welcome warmly the Motu Proprio “Vos estis lux mundi” which Pope Francis has issued today, the last day of our conference, and its new provisions and requirements.’
Pope’s instructions
Pope Francis’s edict spelled out clearly the obligation for every diocese worldwide to have established, by June 2020, ‘one or more public, stable and easily accessible systems for submission of reports’. In addition, it stressed the need to ‘report promptly’ and to conclude investigations within a period of 90 days.
In a significant step, the Pope provided clear definition of a cover-up as ‘actions or omissions intended to interfere with or avoid civil investigations or canonical investigations, whether administrative or penal, against a cleric or a religious regarding the delicts’ of sexual abuse.
Moreover, his letter contained a clear definition of abuse too, providing three specific categories:
• forcing someone, by violence or threat or through abuse of authority, to perform or submit to sexual acts
• performing sexual acts with a minor or a vulnerable person
• the production, exhibition, possession or distribution, including by electronic means, of child pornography, as well as by the recruitment of or inducement of a minor or a vulnerable person to participate in pornographic exhibitions
The Pontiff acknowledged the damage done by sex abuse cases and argued for the need to draw lessons from the past. He wrote: ‘The crimes of sexual abuse offend Our Lord, cause physical, psychological and spiritual damage to the victims and harm the community of the faithful.
‘In order that these phenomena, in all their forms, never happen again, a continuous and profound conversion of hearts is needed, attested by concrete and effective actions that involve everyone in the Church, so that personal sanctity and moral commitment can contribute to promoting the full credibility of the gospel message and the effectiveness of the Church’s mission.
‘Even if so much has already been accomplished, we must continue to learn from the bitter lessons of the past, looking with hope towards the future.’
The full text of the Motu proprio is available on the Holy See website at www.vatican.va
Desire for healing
Back in Valladolid, Baroness Sheila Hollins, a member of the training team working with the Bishops’ Conference, said that the goal had been to help them ‘understand more clearly the importance of listening to and accompanying people who have been abused and those close to them, and to recognise the long-term effects of abuse'.
The majority of the training team were ‘victims and survivors of abuse’ and Baroness Hollins quoted one survivor who said of the Bishops: ‘I felt hugely encouraged by their sincere desire to bring about healing and their genuine sorrow at the harm inflicted by some of their brothers, on so many.’
Archbishop Malcolm McMahon offers a personal reflection on page 3 of this month’s Pic in which he describes these survivors as ‘channels of light’ for their continuing connection with the Church. ‘To me it was remarkable,’ he writes, ‘that people who had been abused by the clergy still remained in the Church. The challenge in this Archdiocese and elsewhere is to keep light shining in all places.’
• Archbishop Malcolm will be the main celebrant at ‘Celebrate the Child’, the Archdiocese’s Annual Family Celebration Mass at Saints Paul and Peter Catholic College, Highfield Road, Widnes on Sunday 30 June (3pm), preceded by a picnic in the grounds at 1.00 pm. For more information contact safeguarding@rcaol.co.uk or 0151 522 1043.
By Alexandra Griffiths, Archdiocese of Liverpool safeguarding coordinator