The Prefect of the Vatican Dicastery for Communication, Paolo Ruffini, was the first to address the packed press gathering that included journalists from all over the world. He began by providing a summary of the morningâs interventions: the first by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Archbishop of Manila, and the second by Archbishop Charles Scicluna, Adjunct Secretary of the Congregation of the Faith; and of the Question & Answer sessions that followed.
Starting on the right foot
According to the Moderator, Fr Federico Lombardi, SJ, the âProtection of Minorsâ Meeting âstarted on the right footâ on Thursday morning because it touched on all the vital key words. He identified these as: âListeningâ, âSynodalityâ, âConcretenessâ, âParrhesiaâ (an ancient Greek word meaning âto speak with courageâ), âConversionâ, and âPurificationâ.
Fr Lombardi then referred to the â21 Pointsâ Pope Francis presented to participants at the start of the morningâs deliberations. These Points were later referred to as âa roadmapâ for the Bishopsâ discussions, providing them with âconcrete proposalsâ to help them go forward. Archbishop Scicluna subsequently clarified how these were not to be considered âdecisionsâ on the part of the Pope, so much as âreflectionsâ to help guide the Bishops both during this meeting and when they return home.
Among the points that received particular attention, is Pope Francisâ suggestion to raise the minimum age at which girls can marry from 14 to 16 (the same as that for boys, according to Canon Law).
The âsacred groundâ of listening
Archbishop Scicluna began his intervention by expressing how moved he was by listening to the testimonies of the victims and survivors at the start of the Meeting in the Synod Hall on Thursday morning. More than once he stressed the importance of âlisteningâ, saying it is like being on âsacred groundâ: listening to victims but, in this case, also to his âbrother Bishopsâ who come from such a wide variety of cultural and geographical realities. The Archbishop recapped his own speech, which he had delivered to the Bishops during their morning plenary, summarizing its key themes of âprudenceâ, âgood practiceâ, and âworking togetherâ. âWe cannot leave Bishops aloneâ, he said. In this regard we also need to âempower the communityâ to assist and support especially those Bishops who live in areas where they have little access to resources, experts, or personnel.
Most importantly, Archbishop Scicluna spoke of how vital it is for the Church to move âfrom a culture of silence, to a culture of disclosureâ. We have to âface and address misconductâ, he said, âgetting it right from the beginningâ.
A journey of exploration
The Archbishop of Brisbane, Australia, Mark Coleridge, described the first morning session as a âjourney of explorationâ, saying it was quite different from any Synod he had ever attended. He spoke of an âenergyâ and âeagernessâ by participants to engage with the issue. âWe listened to God, to survivors, and to each otherâ, he said. The Archbishop added how much he appreciated the very different presentations of Cardinal Tagle and Archbishop Scicluna, summing them up in two words: âVisionâ and âTacticsâ. âWe need bothâ, he said.
Nothing was spared
Fr Hans Zollner SJ, is a member of the Organizing Committee. He began by thanking the survivors and victims for their testimonies, in which, he said, ânothing was sparedâ insofar as the testimonies were âsearing, brutal, and honestâ. Fr Zollner recalled how, after listening to the voices of the victims, representing all continents and different languages, participants sat for a full two minutes in absolute silence. Legal norms, and enforcing accountability are not enough, concluded Fr Zollner, unless they are accompanied by what he called âheartfelt commitmentâ.
Source: Vaticannews.va
