Perplexed faces: Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo, archbishop of Galveston-Houston and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops © Bob Roller (KNA)
Above all, listening to victims has caused a "deep wound in the body of Christ". Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, sums up the Vatican's anti-abuse summit and calls for greater involvement of lay people.
U.S. bishops' conference president Cardinal Daniel DiNardo has called the Vatican's anti-abuse summit "challenging and fruitful". The victims' testimonies once again revealed "the deep wound in the body of Christ," a statement released Sunday (local time) said. "Listening to those affected changes the heart." .He saw this in the faces of the other bishops, the cardinal said. The victims are now owed "relentless vigilance" so that such a failure never happens again.
Specifications must be intensified
With regard to the concrete measures called for by Pope Francis during last week's four-day conference, DiNardo referred to the "Charter for the Protection of Young People" adopted in 2002. The document known as the "Dallas Charter" governs how U.S. dioceses deal with priests accused of sexual abuse. These specifications must now be "intensified," demanded the bishops' conference president. At the anti-abuse summit, special procedures for dealing with relevant accusations against bishops were also discussed.
DiNardo also advocated for greater involvement of lay people to combat sexual abuse. Their prayers, experience and ideas are needed, said the clergyman. All of the solutions discussed at the Vatican conference relied on the help of God's people, he said.