Pope Leo XIV signals continuity on fighting abuse with new head of child protection board
Rome (AP) – Pope Leo XIV reported his commitment to continue the fight against the sexual abuse of the clergy by appointing Bishop France on Saturday to direct the Consultative Commission on the Vatican Child Protection on Saturday.
Verny, 59, replaces the American cardinal Sean O’malley, the retired archbishop of Boston. O’malley was the founding president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, an advisory group of Pope Francis created in 2014 to advise the Church on best practices to combat abuse and protect children.
While the abuse scandal propagated on a global scale during the 12 -year pontificate of François, the commission initially lost the influence and its recommendation of coronation – the creation of a court to judge the bishops who cut the predatory priests – did not go anywhere. After many years of reform and new members, it has become a place where victims can be heard and bishops can obtain advice on the development of directives to fight against abuse.
Verny, who is currently the bishop of the Chamber, in France, has been a member of the Commission since 2022 and directs the Child Protection Council of the Conference of Bishops in France, where the church was shaken by revelations of decades and abuse by priests and bishops. He was one of the members of the committee who met Leo last month.
The bishop was responsible for making an annual audit of the French church centers to receive victims, an initiative which was launched after a devastating report of 2021 in the French scandal estimated that 330,000 children in France have been sexually abused in the last 70 years by church staff.
Cardinal O’malley congratulated the appointment, claiming that Verny had developed in -depth experience to help the victims and work with the police and the civil authorities to ensure responsibility “for the serious failures of the Church in France”.
In a press release, O’malley also praised Leo for continuing to consider the Commission as a priority.
“The words and acts of the Holy Father in these first months of its pontificate ensure the world that the Church will not become complacent in its efforts to ensure the protection of children, vulnerable adults and all the people of our communities,” he said.
Verny, for his part, congratulated O’malley leadership as courageous and having served as a “moral compass” for the Church, a reference to the occasional statements of O’malley anyway Francis brought together a case of abuse.
“I am committed, with members and staff, to rely on this inheritance,” said Verny in a press release.
The Pope of American origin made an appointment the day before before heading for a six-week vacation with a papal summer retirement south of Rome.
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