At a conference at the Catholic University of San Dámaso in Madrid, the undersecretary of the authority, Linda Ghisoni said , according to the Spanish newspaper "Religión Digital", that it is no longer enough to recognise associations as ecclesiastical.
The aim is to monitor the life and implementation of an association's statutes in order to "avoid deviations and abuses". Associations of believers include organisations and spiritual communities.
A major problem in the past has been that organisations have not addressed abuses out of concern for their reputation.
"Bad mistakes were made, such as concealing abuses under the naive pretence of not causing a scandal in order to protect the institution," said Ghisoni: "Life takes precedence over any institution." The rights of individual members should never take a back seat to the interests of the association. "The institution is made up of people who first and foremost have rights and duties as baptised persons," she emphasised.
Call for prevention against abuses of all kinds
The canon lawyer appointed by Pope Francis in 2017 as No. 3 of the Vatican authority emphasised the importance of binding structures in associations, such as the guidelines of her dicastery.
Among other things, these provide for a limit on the term of office in leadership roles.
It is important that leaders deal responsibly with their position.
No one should assume an eternal or absolute leadership role in associations under the guise of a spiritual charism.
Leaders should be empowered to exercise leadership in a transparent and collegial manner.
Ghisoni also called for preventive measures against all types of abuse, including in associations that do not reach minors with their work.
The Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life is responsible, among other things, for the concerns of the lay apostolate.
Freedom of association is a right of the faithful recognised by canon law.
Canon law protects the freedom of association of believers and includes a right of association according to which believers can form associations recognised by the Church.
At the level of the universal church, the dicastery has currently recognised 115 associations.
These include several international umbrella organisations of youth and social associations and spiritual communities active in Germany.
The decree of the dicastery that applies to international associations, which regulated some aspects to prevent abuses in 2017, was used by several German dioceses as the basis for new rules for spiritual communities in the course of this year.