We announce the III Annual Report Truth, Justice, and Healing, third consecutive installment, with our commitments and actions for creating safe environments
Rome, April 19, 2023. The Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ announces the III Annual Report Truth, Justice, and Healing as part of our commitment to victims of abuse by members of the Congregation, society, and the Church. The act of evaluating ourselves and being accountable helps us to verify the progress made and also the deficiencies that require greater effort.
When publishing this report, we keep in mind the known and unknown victims, who have suffered sexual abuse by members of the Congregation. From this painful situation, we have been able to establish our commitments and the necessary actions for the protection of individuals and the creation of safe environments.
This third consecutive installment presents the work carried out in 2022 related to victim support, the implementation of the Reparation and Support Program, the follow-up of canonical procedures, aspects related to cover-up, accreditation processes, strengthening collaboration with institutions and external experts, and issues of authority and conscience abuses.
The timeline details 17 years of work in this area
The III Report is structured around three main axes. The first provides a historical overview of 17 years of our journey toward a culture of zero abuse; the second discloses the progress related to victim support, reparation and assistance, the follow-up of ongoing canonical procedures, handling of cover-up or serious negligence, the status of accreditation processes, collaboration with institutions and external experts, and the state of authority and conscience abuses. Finally, the third axis refers to the commitments we undertake for the coming years.
Among the aspects to highlight, we want to mention that the Reparation and Support Program for victims was implemented, which is comprehensive and includes financial compensation and other types of reparation. In this way, we seek to partially alleviate the terrible impact left by sexual abuses. To date, 11 victims have been attended to according to the principles of this program.
Additionally, collaboration with external institutions and experts has been strengthened in the places where the Congregation is present, facilitating adequate reception and support for victims.
We also want to mention that 6 of the 9 territories that make up the Congregation worldwide have received external audit accreditation for safe environment protocols issued by Praesidium, an organization recognized internationally in the prevention of sexual abuse against minors. The remaining three territories are in the process of accreditation.
This work is carried out alongside a team of safe environment coordinators from each territory who have received specialized training by CEPROME and Reparare from the University of Anahuac in Mexico; the Institute for Development and Personhood of the Francisco de Vitoria University, CONFER, and Repara in Spain; the Episcopal Conferences of Germany, Chile, Spain, United States, and France; Eshmá, Praesidium (Armatus), and the Union of Major Superiors.
Finally, the III Annual Report presents the commitments to be fulfilled, highlighting the strengthening of responses to reports, the enhancement of the economic reparation program, the initiation of an external audit to review the work done, expanded collaboration with institutions and external experts, and examining potential indications of cover-up or serious negligence with external experts.
All updated case data, documents, reports, as well as contacts for institutional and independent channels for reporting, can be found at 0abusos.org
Report in Spanish: https://www.0abusos.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2023/04/III_Informe_anual_VJS_espanol.pdf
Report in English: https://www.0abusos.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2023/04/III_Informe_anual_VJS_ingles.pdf
Other reports:
