What new Catholic bishops are, and aren’t, being told on sex abuse

Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley of Boston, head of the Pontifical Commission for Child Protection, and Sheila Hollins, professor emeritus of psychiatry of disability at St. George's University of London, attended a news conference officially launching the Center for Child Protection in Rome. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

By John L. Allen Jr.
Associate editor February 7, 2016

Given what a cancer the clerical sexual abuse scandals have been for the Catholic Church, one would imagine the Vatican would want new bishops to get a state-of-the-art presentation on best practices in terms of preventing such meltdowns in the future.

The Vatican has been running just such a training course since 2001 for newly appointed bishops around the world, and almost 30 percent of the Catholic prelates in the world today have taken it.

It’s more than a bit surprising, therefore, to discover that at least last year, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, the body created by Pope Francis to identify “best practices” in the fight against child abuse, was not involved in the training.

What’s the point of creating a commission to promote best practices, and putting one of the Church’s most credible leaders on the abuse issue, Boston Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley, in charge of it, and yet not having it address the new leaders who will have to implement those practices?

http://www.cruxnow.com/church/2016/02/07/what-new-catholic-bishops-are-and-arent-being-told-on-sex-abuse/