A Catholic bishop urged religious leaders Thursday to confront the Church’s failures in protecting minors and vulnerable people, saying safeguarding systems alone cannot create truly safe communities.
Bishop Dennis Villarojo of Malolos, chairman of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines Office for the Protection of Minors and Vulnerable Persons, said that ‘to create safe communities within the Church, we must first acknowledge our failures in this regard.’
Addressing 233 religious superiors at their national convention, he warned Church leaders against complacency as safeguarding systems are strengthened, saying even one abuse case remains unacceptable.
‘The fact that action is being taken to deal with sex abuse cases should not, however, give us a spirit of complacency, because one case is more than what we can tolerate,’ Villarojo said.
The bishop said safety must go beyond policies and procedures and involve the culture and relationships within Church communities.
”Safe’ does not only mean having all the systems in place to prevent any form of abuse,’ he said. ‘That community may be safe, but it may also be antiseptic, and even toxic.’
He said safeguarding is the responsibility of the entire Church community and warned that cover-ups or negligence by those responsible could lead to separate investigations and removal from office.
‘Any form of cover-up or negligence can make the point person liable to a separate investigation which may lead to removal from office,’ he said.
Villarojo said healthy religious communities should foster authentic faith, joy in service, discipline and zeal for mission – qualities that can also attract young people to consecrated life.
‘It is logical to postulate that a safe community is more attractive to young people than those that are perceived not to be,’ he said.
The CBCP protection office assists dioceses in establishing safeguarding structures and measures to prevent, investigate and respond to abuse cases.