Pope Francis encourages journalists to cover the abuse scandal with ‘openness and integrity’

April 19, 2023

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Holy See’s Secretary of State, has sent a message in the Pope’s name to a conference commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the Boston Globe’s reporting on the abuse scandal.

The conference was organized by the association of journalists accredited to the Vatican, along with the Pontifical Gregorian University’s Institute of Anthropology, which is led by Father Hans Zollner, SJ. The priest recently resigned from the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

Pope Francis “hopes that your discussions and shared experiences involving journalists, survivors and experts will help to shed further light on the scourge of abuse and to promote a more effective cooperation within the Church and society in general, in order to eradicate this profound evil,” Cardinal Parolin wrote in his message to Father Zollner, according to SIR, the Italian bishops’ news agency.

The Pontiff also encouraged the journalists to “continue your work with openness and integrity in the service of the truth” and expressed “gratitude for the continuous efforts made to promote transparency, restore dignity and hope to survivors of abuse, and guarantee the well-being of all God’s children.”

 

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Further information:

• Papa Francesco: ai giornalisti, “continuate a fare luce sulla piaga dell’abuso per sradicare questo male profondo