A Vatican commission dedicated to child protection has stated that the Catholic Church’s leadership continues to mishandle sexual abuse allegations involving clergy, resulting in “ongoing harm” to victims, according to a strongly worded report released on Thursday.
The document also criticized certain regions, particularly Italy and Africa, for failing to adopt effective anti-abuse measures.
The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, which published its second annual report on October 16, urged greater transparency from the Vatican and expressed “concern” that survivors often view the Church’s central administration as “insensitive.”
This report marks the first since the election of Pope Leo XIV and underscores the magnitude of the challenge the American pontiff faces in addressing child and vulnerable person abuse within the Church. While his predecessor, Pope Francis, made notable progress in confronting the issue, experts and survivors argue that further action was needed.
“We must reemphasize that the Church’s decades-long pattern of mishandling reports — including abandonment, neglect, shaming, blaming, and stigmatizing victims — continues to inflict harm,” the report asserts.
The document urges the Church to provide “reparations” for the damage caused by abuse. These should include psychological and financial assistance, empathetic listening, both public and private apologies, and comprehensive reform of abuse response procedures.
It also features powerful testimony from survivors who describe “denial and dismissal” from Church authorities, along with “disturbing accounts of retaliation” by bishops and leaders against those who came forward. Survivors reported a “lack of psychological support” and “strong resistance to safeguarding reforms” at the local church level. A “lack of accountability” within the hierarchy was repeatedly highlighted.
“Church authorities who perpetrate or enable abuse have often viewed themselves as too important to face consequences. The Church’s response must not repeat these same mistakes,” the report emphasizes.
Regarding accountability, the commission urged the Vatican to begin publicly explaining the reasons behind a bishop’s resignation or dismissal when it relates to “cases of abuse or negligence.” Currently, such announcements are made without further detail.
The commission, led by French Archbishop Thibault Verny, consists of Church officials and independent experts, including Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, a Dutch lawyer and former UN Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, who oversaw the report’s preparation.
The 200-page report evaluates how churches across different regions are handling abuse cases, including in Italy — the pope’s home country. Victims and advocacy groups have long claimed that the Italian Church has failed to fully confront its abuse scandals and must involve an independent investigative body.
The commission’s findings highlight serious shortcomings within the Italian Church. Although it recognizes “significant progress” in child protection, it warns that “deep-rooted cultural resistance” to confronting abuse persists. It also “regrets” that many Church leaders have yet to meet with the Vatican’s abuse commission and that several dioceses failed to provide details about their safeguarding initiatives.
In Africa, the report found that many dioceses still lack adequate abuse-response mechanisms. In Equatorial Guinea, no formal procedures for receiving complaints were identified, while in Ethiopia, Church leaders were reportedly resistant to assuming “direct responsibility” for abuse cases. In Kenya, bishops cited “cultural taboos” as a major barrier preventing victims from reporting abuse.
The commission also called on the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization, which oversees churches in developing regions, to increase its investment in anti-abuse policies and improve its screening of bishop candidates, noting an “insufficient allocation of resources” for this purpose.
Established in 2014 by Pope Francis, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors was tasked in 2022 with producing an annual report on the Church’s efforts toward abuse prevention and safeguarding. Its first report was issued last year.
Since his election on May 8, Pope Leo XIV has emphasized the urgent need to foster “a culture of prevention across the entire Church that tolerates no form of abuse,” while commending journalists for their role in exposing such scandals.
