Sexual abuse must be a key issue at the Conclave

Child protection expert Zollner: Abuse a key issue in papal election

"Next Pope Must Further Develop Francis' Standards" 

Cathcon:  You can say that again.  Significantly further develop.

At the General Congregations, the so-called pre-conclave, the cardinals gathered in the Vatican are currently discussing the state of the Church and the profile of the next pope. What "skills" will the next head of the 1.4 billion Catholics need? And what issues will the cardinals be particularly concerned with when they soon retreat to the Sistine Chapel for the Papal election, the Conclave?

"I believe that the issue of abuse will already play a role in the preliminary discussions, the so-called pre-conclave," German child protection expert Hans Zollner told the news agency Kathpress in Rome based on conversations with future papal electors. "The vast majority of cardinals will be aware that the issue is important for the potential candidates and the further development of the Church," said the director of the Institute of Anthropology at the Gregorian University, where he heads the Center for Child Protection.

"It would be disastrous for those affected, as well as for our institute and all those involved in safeguarding, if it were revealed after the election that the new Pope was negligent on the issue of abuse," the Jesuit points out.

Complaints filed against six cardinals

Presumably also to prevent this, the victims' association "Snap" filed a complaint against six prominent cardinals in March, alleging that they had covered up or failed to adequately prosecute sexual abuse of priests and church employees.

Cathcon:  Down from the 12 Cardinals they named at the previous Conclave

On the other hand, the portal "College of Cardinals Report" lists ten criteria for Papabili, including their stance on the Old Mass, the blessing of same-sex couples, the ordination of women, and even the German "Synodal Path" – however, the handling of the issue of abuse by individual Cardinals is not a criterion for the conservative portal.

Cathcon:  On oversight given the realities of the handling of the Zanchetta, Grassi and Rupnik cases by Pope Francis.   Click on the tags to find out more about the terrible role of Francis in these and other cases.  It is also worth noting the resignation of Father Zollner

At the time he said

“Over the last years, I have grown increasingly concerned with how the Papal commission, in my perception, has gone about achieving that goal, particularly in the areas of responsibility, compliance, accountability and transparency,” he said, stressing that these are principles every church institution, “let alone the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, is bound to uphold.”

Abuse as a systemic phenomenon

"The speculation currently being circulated about possible candidates should be viewed with great caution," says Zollner. Pope Francis, who founded the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors in 2014, has initiated a great deal on the issue of abuse, he says, also with reference to the Child Protection Summit in February 2019, which he co-organized on Francis's behalf. There, for the first time, the systemic dimension of abuse in the Church was discussed; that is, the need for changes not only in individual cases, but in the overall structures, processes, spaces, and training – with the goal of preventing abuse within the Church as far as possible.

Today, he says, there is talk of promoting "safeguarding" in the Church, i.e., creating safe spaces, safe relationships, and safe processes. "Francis has done a lot in this regard." One of the Pope's strengths, Zollner says, has been his interactions with victims. He has accompanied many of those Francis met in the Vatican or on his travels. "Some of them reported back to me after his death that the encounter was very important to them (...) They were impressed by his way of approaching them, full of empathy and without hesitation," Zollner emphasizes. "He listened to and accepted everything, from outbursts of anger and accusations to tears and even surprising gratitude – and he didn't run away. He was with them in their pain and despair," the religious reports.

On the other hand, those affected had also hoped for more from Francis, the expert knows. And the German victims' initiative "Eckiger Tisch" (Squared Table) praised the deceased as a pope who had opened the door a crack to a necessary reform of the Church's doctrine and practice. "Others will have to go through it," its spokesperson Matthias Katsch told the Catholic News Agency (KNA) in Berlin. However, in many places, the Church is still not a safe space for children and young people, and many victims are still waiting for justice.

Cathcon: This is an absolute necessity to make the Church safe everyone.  It cannot begin to evangelise anywhere in this connected world unless this is true everywhere.   There is also an overriding moral imperative. 

Discrepancy in the Universal Church

Here, Zollner sees differences between countries. "In Germany, we see that reports are presented from one diocese to another." This varies greatly within the universal Church; even within Europe, there are differences. "This is justified because there are cultural, political, or historical reasons that necessitate different approaches," says the Jesuit."What we need in the Church as a whole is the implementation of the laws." It is not just the Pope as the head of the Church who is called upon to do this, but all the faithful. "Unfortunately, this has not yet been realised. Pope Francis has done a lot, but not everything that would have been desirable."

The change in mentality towards the shared responsibility of all Catholics on the subject of abuse is "a lasting legacy" of the Pope. "He took an important step by building on what Pope Benedict had initiated," says Zollner in retrospect. "He changed laws and got involved in the issue, but his successor will still have a lot of work to do." With a view to the next pope, this means: "Our hope is that his successor will build on these standards and develop them effectively."

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