| Katholisch-Theologische Fakultät, SPF Religion. Gesellschaft. Weltbeziehung., Forschung

New conference publication on abuse in the Catholic Church

Myriam Wijlens, Professor of Canon Law at the Faculty of Catholic Theology of the University of Erfurt, has organised a seminar for the Pontifical Commission for Child Protection in Rome in 2019 entitled "Promoting and Protecting the Dignity of Persons in Allegations of Abuse of Minors and Vulnerable Adults: Balancing Confidentiality, Transparency and Accountability". The results of the meeting have now been published.

Shadow of a child at the hand of an adult

Participants from all over the world attended the December 2019 meeting, including local bishops, professors, officiants and Roman Curia staff. Together they discussed how to strike a balance between confidentiality, transparency and accountability - with regard to the victims of abuse in the Catholic Church, their relatives, the accused, but also the community in which the abuse took place. "The key to this," says Myriam Wijlens interview with "Vatican News", "is to protect and promote the dignity of every human being." Against this background, the seminar participants spoke in particular about the sacrament of reconciliation, the secrecy of confession and transparency and accountability in procedural matters.

The lectures were recently published in their original language in the journal Periodica 109 ((2020) pp. 401-676) of the Faculty of Canon Law of the Gregorian University in Rome.

An Italian/English translation can be found on the website: https://www.iuscangreg.it/seminario-tutela-minori.

The lectures were also published in Spanish: https://ceprome.com/producto/confidencialidad-transparencia-y-accountabilty

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