ROME (AP) — Pope Leo XIV signaled dedication to persevering with the combat towards clergy sexual abuse by appointing France’s Bishop Thibault Verny to go the Vatican’s youngster safety advisory fee on Saturday.
Verny, 59, replaces American Cardinal Sean O’Malley, the retired archbishop of Boston. O’Malley was the founding president of the Pontifical Fee for the Safety of Minors, an advisory group Pope Francis established in 2014 to advise the church on greatest practices to combat abuse and defend kids.
Because the abuse scandal unfold globally throughout Francis’ 12-year hold forth, the fee initially misplaced affect and its crowning advice — the creation of a tribunal to evaluate bishops who coated up for predator monks — went nowhere. After a few years of reform and new members, it has change into a spot the place victims can go to be heard and bishops can get recommendation on crafting pointers to combat abuse.
Verny, who’s at present the bishop of Chambery, France, has been a member of the fee since 2022 and heads the kid safety council of the bishops convention in France, the place the church has been rocked by revelations of a long time and abuse by monks and bishops. He was amongst fee members who met with Leo final month.
The bishop has been accountable for doing an annual audit of the French church’s facilities for receiving victims, an initiative that was began after a devastating 2021 report into the French scandal estimated 330,000 kids in France had been sexually abused over the previous 70 years by church personnel.
Cardinal O’Malley praised the appointment, saying Verny has developed in-depth expertise serving to victims and dealing with legislation enforcement and civil authorities to make sure accountability “for the intense failures of the church in France.”
In an announcement, O’Malley additionally praised Leo for persevering with to contemplate the fee a precedence.
“The Holy Father’s phrases and deeds in these early months of his hold forth guarantee the world that the Church won’t develop complacent in her efforts to as very best make sure the safety of kids, susceptible adults and all folks in our communities,” he stated.
Verny, for his half, praised O’Malley’s management as brave and having served as “an ethical compass” for the church, a reference to O’Malley’s occasional statements of concern when even Francis bungled an abuse case.
“I’m dedicated, along with the members and personnel, to constructing on that legacy,” Verny stated in an announcement.
The American-born pope made the appointment the day earlier than heading for a six-week trip on the papal summer time retreat south of Rome.
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