Attending clergy will be educated on the law and how to care for victims.

Pope Francis has demanded Catholic Church bishops to attend the February 21-24 sex abuse prevention meeting. Attendees will be educated on which laws to use against the predators and how to care for victims. The intention of this meeting is to ensure that clergy abuse will never be covered up again. The pope himself will attend the summit on all days.

Alessandro Gisotti, the spokesman of the Vatican, said the pope has realized the worldwide nature of the problem and figured out the only solution in this context is a global answer by the church. As per Gisotti, it is vital that when the participants return to their respective homes, they must understand the required steps to prevent abuse.

Francis announced in September his request that presidents of bishops’ conferences all over the world attend this Vatican summit. It is to be noted the pope himself has stumbled on managing the massive number of sex abuse cases. It did not help that a new scandal exploded across the world from the United States to Chile and beyond.

According to information released by the Vatican, the principal aim of this gathering is to make sure bishops coming from different countries spanning the globe comprehend what they must do to stop and fight the predatory sexual abuse inflicted on minors. Participants of the summit will attend working groups, a penitential service, plenary meetings, and witness depositions. A final mass will be held on February 24. Reverend Federico Lombardi has been appointed by the pontiff to moderate plenary meetings. The latter has experience in this matter as he functioned as a spokesman for the Vatican during the 2010 sex cases scandal. Reverend Lombardi also wrote a comprehensive article concerning the response of the Catholic Church in a Jesuit magazine.

Pope Francis is not adept in managing cases related to sex abuse. He has been accused by many for ignoring the adult sexual misconduct allegations made against former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. The pontiff was unwillingly thrown into the spotlight as his favored Argentine bishop is now under investigation for sexual misconduct with seminary students.

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