The Holy See Press Office issues further details of the February meeting
and the Director ad interim communicates its aims and expectations.
By Vatican News
The Director ad interim of the Holy See Press Office, Alessandro
Gisotti, on Wednesday provided journalists with further information regarding
"The protection of minors in the Church" Meeting, to be held in the
Vatican from 21 to 24 February 2019.
The Organizing Committee of the Meeting gathered in Rome on Thursday 10
January, he said. Afterwards, the Holy Father received in audience the members
of the Committee, who updated him on preparations for the Meeting.
Preparations and details
The February Meeting will see Presidents of Bishops’ Conference from all
over the world coming together to discuss, as the title indicates, “the
protection of minors in the Church”. According to the Vatican Press Office
communiqué, the Meeting will include plenary sessions, working groups, moments
of common prayer, listening to testimonies, a penitential liturgy, and a final
Eucharistic celebration.
Pope Francis has assured he will be present for the entire duration of
the Meeting, and has entrusted Fr. Federico Lombardi SJ, with the task of moderating
the Plenary sessions.
Aims and expectations
Following the publication of the communiqué, the Director ad interim of
the Holy See Press Office, Alessandro Gisotti, issued the following
communication:
“The February Meeting on the
protection of minors has a concrete purpose: the goal is that all of the
Bishops clearly understand what they need to do to prevent and combat the
worldwide problem of the sexual abuse of minors. Pope Francis knows that a global
problem can only be resolved with a global response. The Pope wants it to be an
assembly of Pastors, not an academic conference – a meeting characterized by
prayer and discernment, a catechetical and working gathering.
It is fundamental for the Holy Father
that when the Bishops who will come to Rome have returned to their countries
and their dioceses that they understand the laws to be applied and that they
take the necessary steps to prevent abuse, to care for the victims, and to make
sure that no case is covered up or buried.
Regarding the high expectations that
have been created around the Meeting, it is important to emphasize that the
Church is not at the beginning of the fight against abuse. The Meeting is a
stage along the painful journey that the Church has unceasingly and decisively
undertaken for over fifteen years."
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