Commission tells pope universal safeguarding guidelines almost ready

VATICAN CITY — The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors hopes to deliver a “Universal Guidelines Framework for Safeguarding” to Pope Leo XIV later this year, the commission said.

The guidelines “seek to inspire a true conversion of heart in every leader and pastoral agent in the church, ensuring that safeguarding becomes not merely a requirement, but a reflection of the Gospel’s call to protect the least among us,” the commission said in a press release June 5 after its first meeting with Pope Leo XIV.

Also, “a new ‘vademecum’ on reparations, informed by the lived experiences of victims and survivors, is in development to guide local churches in responding with justice and compassion,” it added.

The commission updated the pope about its work and “reiterated its commitment to the unity and collegiality of its members,” the press release said.

Some 23 members, including Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley, commission president and retired archbishop of Boston, attended the hour-long audience at the Vatican. Bishop Luis Manuel Alí Herrera, the commission’s secretary, and Teresa Kettelkamp, adjunct secretary of the commission, were also present.

“A letter signed by all members following the March 2025 plenary assembly underscored the need for continuity in our mandate, governance and working methods — affirming the commission’s independence and its role as a trusted advisor to the Holy Father,” the commission press release said. Pope Francis established the commission in 2014 to advise the pope “in the development and promotion of universal safeguarding standards, and to accompany the church in building a culture of accountability, justice and compassion.”

Members also informed Pope Leo about the commission’s annual report, “a cornerstone of its mandate” that is “designed to evaluate the safeguarding capacity of local churches, offering practical recommendations grounded in the lived realities of each region,” it said.

This year’s annual report will explore “conversional justice through the lens of reparations. This includes a comprehensive pastoral-theological study and the collection of data on current reparations practices across the universal church,” it said.

The report expanded the input from its victim/survivor focus group “with direct contributions from survivors across all four commission regions. Country-level church data is also drawn from the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’s review process — answering the growing call for greater transparency through external data,” it added.

The new report will look at the church’s safeguarding efforts in 22 countries and two religious congregations, and it will include “an institutional review of the Dicastery for Evangelization” as well as initial findings from a review of the Focolare Movement, it said.

“Our hope is to present the finalized universal guidelines framework to the Holy Father later this year,” it said. The guidelines were developed over the past two years in close collaboration with “church leaders, safeguarding professionals, survivors of abuse and pastoral workers from across the globe,” it added.

The draft framework, it said, “has been tested and refined through pilot programs in Tonga, Poland, Zimbabwe and Costa Rica,” providing “invaluable insights into the practical, cultural, and theological dimensions of safeguarding.”

The commission expressed its gratitude to the dicasteries of the Roman Curia “for their increasing collaboration, and we invite continued partnership in this vital ministry.”