The Church’s Safeguarding Commission is recommending that the State create an authority for the protection of minors and vulnerable adults, with the purpose of establishing a structure for the sharing of information between organisations that work with children and vulnerable adults. Furthermore, this authority would be charged with the revision of existing procedures through which the names of perpetrators are placed in the Register for the Protection of Minors.
The Commission believes that safeguarding children and vulnerable adults is everyone’s responsibility and it is also recommending that every organisation that works with minors and vulnerable adults, should have a designated person that is responsible for the safeguarding of vulnerable persons.
Speaking at a Press Conference at the Archbishop’s Curia, in Floriana, Mr Andrew Azzopardi, the Head of Safeguarding, put forward these recommendations following the Commission’s experience in the first year since its inception. During the past year, two thirds of reported complaints involving minors were concluded in less than six months. Of the 27 complaints received by the Commission between February and December 2015, one case was substantiated and accordingly, the Commission recommended that the necessary steps be taken. The other concluded cases were either not proven or the allegations were false or were malicious in intent or did not involve minors. Until December 2015, seven cases were undergoing an assessment, and in five cases the persons concerned had their pastoral activity restricted.
As regards to complaints involving vulnerable adults, 70% of them were concluded in less than 6 months. Of these 14 complaints, the allegations concerning 3 cases were substantiated and therefore the Commission advised a course of action. The other complaints either were not proven or the allegations were false, or did not involve abuse and thus were referred. At the end of last year, five cases were undergoing an assessment, and in one case the person concerned had one’s pastoral activity restricted.
After presenting the first annual report of the Safeguarding Commission, Mr Andrew Azzopardi stated that the Church will continue to invest in greater awareness for the protection of children and vulnerable adults. He went on to say that during the first year since it has been setup, the Commission trained around 700 people active in Church structures, such as priests, male and female members of religious orders, seminarians, teachers, catechists, and volunteers. The training focused on the prevention of abuse and on how a culture centred on the best interest of children and vulnerable adults can flourish in the Church’s mission.
The Commission is also working on making this training available to all those who are offering their services in the Church. In the coming weeks, a pilot project involving six organisations, that also includes three parishes, will be inaugurated, with the aim of developing best practices and structures that provide specialised training for operators, whether they are employed by the Church or volunteering in its various entities.
Mr Azzopardi also announced that on the initiative of the Safeguarding Commission, a Memorandum of Understanding will be signed with the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, to offer training to Maltese seminarians as part of their formation. The training will focus on prevention of abuse.
