‘There cannot be healing without justice’

With the release of their Pilot Annual Report, the President of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors highlights the Church’s concern with pairing justice with healing and also the need to educate people on “how common these crimes are in our world.” Recognizing that there is still work to be done, Cardinal Seán Patrick O’Malley, ofm cap., expresses his hope the report can be a source of consolation. “We still have a long way to go,” he says, “but we have begun. The following is an abridged version of the interview with Cardinal O’Malley. The full text can be found on: https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2024-10/cardinal-o-malley-abuse-pontifical-commission-protection-minors.html

Your Eminence, thank you for joining us this morning. As you prepare to release the first annual report on safeguarding, can you give us an overview? A big part of that is an account of the ten years of the Commission. Is that part of the legacy of the Commission going forward?

Well, I think it’s a very important moment for us. This is actually sort of the third iteration of the renewal of membership in the Commission since the beginning. And of course, the first iteration was very challenging because we were a group of about 20 volunteers, very small staff, and with the whole world as our target group. Certainly, the Holy Father placed great trust in us, and we have had extraordinary members on the Commission, just when you think about it. And so many experts from all over the world, a number of victims, parents of victims, some of them have been rather public about their history and their experiences. Others have been more discreet. But they have made an incredible contribution to the life of the Commission.

And, at first, those who were enthused about the Commission thought we were going to be a panacea and solve all the problems of safeguarding in the Church. And of course, with those kinds of unrealistic expectations, we came in for a lot of criticism that we didn’t fulfill all of their dreams immediately.

On the other hand, there was a group that was saying, well, this has been dealt with. We don’t need a commission, and you’re nothing but troublemakers. And so, there’s been many challenges.

But as I say, the people who have served on the Commission have been a very independent lot.

And for a Vatican commission, I think it’s one of the few where we, you know, it’s always been at least half, sometimes majority women. We have some who are not members of our Church, members of other religions, people from all over the world with very, very different experiences. But what they have in common is their passion for safeguarding and their desire to listen to the victims and to somehow be their voice within the Church.

I want to ask one specific question about the report. There will be lots of questions and a lot of development in the days and weeks to come. The Church seems to focus a great deal on safeguarding and this of course is the priority, making sure that this doesn’t happen again as much as possible. When it does happen, dealing with it and addressing those things. But the report also mentions issues of justice and reparation. Can you talk a little bit about what the report says about that and what the Church is doing in those areas?

Certainly, although the responsibility of our Commission is more the safeguarding piece of it, but the Church must be very concerned about justice. And that’s sort of the responsibility of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, since these cases were assigned there by Pope Benedict; and also in the local dioceses, have the responsibility to sort out the legal aspects of these cases and to cooperate with the civil governments.

And so, the justice element there is very important. Sometimes these cases go way back beyond statute of limitations. And in which case the Church has an even greater obligation, I would say, to become involved in the administration of justice, where the state is not going to carry on investigations or prosecutions or anything like that. And that’s why, in my mind, the review boards have been such an important part of finding out the truth and dealing with it in a just way.

But there cannot be healing unless there is justice. People don’t want to just hear nice phrases or see documents if they have been unjustly wronged and harmed. They have a right to be heard and to feel that the Church is going to make reparations for the evil that has been done to them.

You’ve kind of alluded to the fact that perhaps some in the Church are not enthusiastic about the work that you do. We see sometimes the Commission will make suggestions about best practices or about what can be done for victims. And perhaps people in the Church simply don’t listen to you. I know you don’t have a direct competence for ensuring compliance, but what can the Church do to make sure that leaders are accepting what you’re suggesting for them?

Well, we’re trying to educate people. I think this is one of the biggest tasks of the Church, to give a very broad education about safeguarding and the need for it. A lot of people are very unaware of how common these crimes are in our world and our society. And so, it’s my hope that if the Church can do a good job of getting our household in order, that that will be a service to the greater community.

And we’ve seen that in the States in many ways. Many other churches and organizations have come to us and said, well, you have come up with these policies and had this experience. Can you share that with us? And we have. But I think unless people are made aware of the widespread existence of abuse and then become committed to how we’re going to respond to this and make sure that it doesn’t happen again.

And it’s like my Jewish friends talk about the Holocaust. They said, if you don’t remember what happened, you’re putting us in danger of this happening again. And so, it’s very important that we keep this before people’s minds. This is not something just from the distant past. It’s a commitment to protect children and young people in the present and going forward.

And briefly, in a word, what does the Report have to say to victims and to faithful Catholics who are still concerned about how the Church is responding to abuse?

I’m hoping that the very breadth of the document will be a consolation to them. I know some people are expecting some kind of an exposé type. That’s not what this is about. This is about sort of measuring what is being done to promote a culture of safeguarding in the whole world, and some of these countries are very under-resourced.

My own community has missions in Papua New Guinea. I have been there. The people’s life is a very simple life. There are 500 different languages. There’s much poverty, much illiteracy. And there, the Church is talking about safeguarding and all over the world. And when the bishops are coming to Rome for their ad limina visit, we’re asking them to report on: How are the guidelines working for you? Where are you implementing them? Where are the areas where you’re not doing what needs to be done? What are the results?

And so, this conversation is taking place all over the world. And the focus of the Commission has particularly been the global South, where it’s been slower to become involved in this ministry of safeguarding but where I think we’ve made a lot of progress, and the bishops and the people there are anxious to learn more and to become involved in training people in safeguarding and teaching them about the importance of accountability, transparency, ministerial codes of conduct and screening for seminarians, novices and teachers and leadership in the Church.

So, this is taking place all over the world now. And a few years ago, that would not have been the case.

I hope that people will find consolation in that. We still have a long way to go, but we have begun.

This transcript has been edited for clarity.

By Christopher Wells