Vatican City, 8 May 2015 (VIS) – On
21 April, Cardinal Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin, approved by
mandate of the Supreme Pontiff, “ad experimentum” for three
years, the Statutes of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection
of Minors, the draft of which had been presented by Cardinal Sean
O'Malley, president of the aforementioned Commission.
The Statutes will be published today in
the Italian original and in English translation. The document is
composed of six articles: Nature and Competence, Composition and
Members, Plenary Assembly, Personnel, Working Groups, and General
Norms.
The first part explains that the
Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors is an autonomous
institution linked to the Holy See with a public legal personality
and has an advisory function in the service of the Holy Father. The
protection of minors, the text continues, is of the first importance,
and therefore it is the role of the Commission to propose initiatives
to the Pontiff, following the modalities indicated in the Statutes,
to promote the responsibility of the particular Churches in the
protection of all minors and vulnerable adults. These proposals will
have to receive prior approval by the majority of two thirds of the
members of the Commission. For the elaboration of the proposals, when
the matter falls within the competence of other ecclesial bodies, the
president of the Commission, with the assistance of the secretary,
will consult the competent entities for the protection of minors in
the particular Churches, the episcopal conferences, the conferences
of the Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic
Life, as well as the dicastery of the Roman Curia competent in the
matter. This consultation will take place in a transparent manner
with the members of the Commission, based in Vatican City State.
The Commission, according to the second
part, is composed of a maximum of eighteen members appointed by the
Holy Father for a three-year period, which may be reconfirmed, and
are selected from persons of recognised competence in various areas
linked to the activity entrusted to the Commission. Both the
president and the secretary are appointed from among the members by
the Holy Father for a period of three years, a mandate that may be
reconfirmed.
The plenary assembly, as explained in
the third part, will be convoked twice yearly. Upon request by two
thirds of the Members and with the consent of the president, an
extraordinary plenary assembly may be convoked. For the plenary
assembly to be considered valid, at least two thirds of the members
must be present; they may participate via video conference.
The members of the Commission, the
personnel and the collaborators with the working groups, according to
the final part, are required to observe the norms of professional
secrecy regarding the news and information they become aware of in
the exercise of their tasks and functions.
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