Protection of Minors: Card.
Salazar says bishops’ responsibility ‘inescapable’
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| Pope Francis and Presidents of Bishops' Conference at Meeting on the Protection of Minors in the Church. |
The Archbishop of Bogotá addressed the meeting on “The
Protection of Minors in the Church” on Thursday afternoon focusing on the
responsibility of the Bishop to act decisively in all cases of abuse.
By Linda Bordoni
Cardinal Rubén Salazar Gómez said no justification
exists for not denouncing and forcefully confronting any abuse that presents
itself within the Church.
He was speaking in the afternoon of Day One at the
“Protection of Minors in the Church” Meeting in the Vatican.
The title of his presentation, “The Church in a moment of
crisis - Facing conflicts and tensions and acting decisively”, reflected the
theme of the day dedicated to “Responsibility”.
Salazar, who is the President of the Latin American
Episcopal Council, introduced his speech pointing to clericalism as one of the
roots in the clerical sex abuse crisis afflicting the Church.
Clericalism
Clericalism, he said, can give rise to a way in which this
crisis has generally been responded to: “we encounter a mistaken understanding
of how to exercise ministry that has led to serious errors of authority which
have increased the severity of the crisis. This has a name: clericalism”.
And quoting from Pope Francis’ letter to God's people in
August of last year, Scicluna said “To say “no” to abuse is to say an
emphatic “no” to all forms of clericalism.”
These, he said, are “clear words that urge us to go to the
root of the problem in order to face it”.
Salazar said therefore it is necessary to “unmask the
underlying clericalism and bring about a change of mentality; in more precise
terms”. This change, he said, is called conversion.
Calling on all bishops to embrace their responsibility to be
meticulously coherent with words and actions, he said “The mentality behind our
words must undergo a thorough revision so that our words and actions correspond
to God's will in the Church at this time”.
At the core of his address was the conviction that
“The fact that abuses occur in other institutions and groups
can never justify the occurrence of abuses in the
Church, because it contradicts the very
essence of the ecclesial community and
constitutes a monstrous distortion of the priestly ministry which, by its very
nature, must seek the good of souls as its
supreme end. There is no possible justification for not denouncing,
not unmasking, not courageously and forcefully confronting any abuse that
presents itself within our Church.”
The multiple but inescapable responsibilities of the
bishop
Cardinal Salazar reflected on the Bishop's responsibilities
first of all as pastor, and then as a member of the episcopal college under the
supreme authority of the Church, pointing out that the bishop is not alone in
dealing with this crisis as his ministry is a collegial one.
He also focused on the responsibility of the bishop towards
his priests and consecrated persons, highlighting the bishop’s responsibility
to abusive priests.
“As bishops, we must fulfil our duty to confront immediately
the situation that arises from a denunciation. Every denunciation must
immediately trigger the procedures that are specified both in canon law and in
the civil law of each nation, according to the guidelines established by each
episcopal conference. (…) Today it is clear to us that any negligence on our
part can lead to canonical penalties, including removal from ministry, and
civil penalties that can even lead to imprisonment for concealment or
complicity” he said.
He spoke of the right of the accused to be heard and of how
justice should be implemented concretely, highlighting the fact that the rights
of the perpetrators must “never take precedence over the rights of the victims,
of the weakest, of the most vulnerable”.
In conclusion, Salazar turned to the bishop’s responsibility
to “God’s faithful holy people” saying that the Church must be close to the
victims of abuse and its first duty is to listen to them.
He noted that one of the first sins committed at the
beginning of the crisis was precisely not having listened with open hearts to
those who charged that they had been abused by clerics.
“The responsibility of the bishop is very broad and covers
many fields, but it is always inescapable” he said.
For more information on the Meeting on The Protection of
Minors in the Church and for Cardinal Salazar's full address www.pbc2019.org
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