The World Day for the Prevention of Child Abuse was observed on Nov. 19, and members of Ending Clergy Abuse (ECA) and the Institute of Anthropology’s Interdisciplinary Studies on Human Dignity and Care (IADC) met in Rome to discuss the issue.
After the clerical abuse crisis exploded in the United States following reports in The Boston Globe, the U.S. bishops implemented a policy where priests found guilty of the sexual abuse of minors would be removed from ministry.
However, this policy wasn’t instituted by the Vatican, and priests found to have abused minors in other areas are often just given limited ministry duties, or not allowed to present themselves as clergy, without being formally laicized.
The proposal to expand the policy originated in Rome in June during a meeting between abuse victims and leading Catholic officials, including Jesuit Father Hans Zollner, a longtime Vatican safeguarding expert, and Bishop Luis Manuel Ali Herrera, the deputy head of the Vatican’s child protection advisory board.
“Safeguarding is not just a legal or organizational matter—it is a moral and spiritual imperative,” Zollner said. “Only by confronting the past openly and taking decisive action can we begin to rebuild the trust that has been so severely broken.”
At the meeting on Monday, the officials pointed out the changes they proposed in June.
This included calling for the permanent removal of clerical abusers and the establishment of an official agency to investigate the handling of abuse cases by church superiors and that would issue public reports and recommendations.
They also called for full transparency throughout the investigation process, with survivors and the public being informed at every stage as well as calling for severe penalties being imposed on bishops and Church officials who fail to implement safeguarding protocols or who protect abusers.
They also called for a clear definition of rights for survivors and all parties involved in an ecclesiastical trial on abuse.
Abuse survivors and officials also demanded a clarification on the application and applicability of Vos Estis Lux Mundi, the Vatican document issued in 2019 to cover abuse.
Anne Barrett Doyle, who has tracked clergy abuse over decades as a co-director of the BishopAccountability.org website, told National Catholic Reporter earlier this year the impact of the law has been “insignificant.”
“We have no idea how many bishops have been investigated under Vos Estis. BishopAccountability tries to count them, but the information is so vague,” she said.
The meeting in Rome on Monday also called for the publication of jurisprudence and case law by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF).
“The recent report from the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors seems to suggest that progress within Holy See offices has been insufficient in implementing effective measures to prevent sexual abuse within the Church. It highlights a lack of accountability, transparency, and adequate support systems for survivors, calling for more concrete measures to ensure the safety and well-being of children and vulnerable adults,” a statement said after the event.
Barrett Doyle said the “devastating reality” is that in every country outside the U.S.,” Church law still permits known and even convicted abusers to remain in active ministry under certain conditions.”
“Universalizing the U.S. norm would be a small step forward,” she said.
Nicholas Cafardi, a canon lawyer from the United States, said he believe globalizing the U.S. police of “one strike, you’re out” policy is the next step in combating abuse.
“It seems to me that a good protection would be: ‘Let’s just make it a universal law,’ … Once you have that law, you don’t have to rely on bishops requesting it in every country — it simply becomes the rule,” he said.