Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, president of the Italian bishops’ conference, said Thursday that a national advisory centre of lay and religious experts is being created to help dioceses educate personnel about protecting children and help bishops investigate abuse reports. Italy’s bishops have lagged behind their counterparts in much of the West in confronting clergy sex abuse. Bassetti acknowledged that “in the past” the Italian church sought to avoid scandal at all cost by keeping cases quiet. But he said the Italian bishops, at their just-concluded national assembly, had made a “radical, evangelical choice” toward transparency. Pope Francis, who as bishop of Rome has a unique relationship with the Italian conference, has summoned bishops from around the world to a February summit on abuse prevention.

Source: National Post November 15, 2018 15:18 UTC