Together, we strive to protect the most vulnerable and foster a culture of care within the Church through conversion, based on truth, justice, reparation and non-recurrence and institutional reform.

Delegates from 25 European nations representing bishops’ conferences, conferences of religious, practitioners, academics, victims and survivors of clerical child sexual abuse and advocates have issued a Declaration of Intent, following the conclusion of a three day conference on Safeguarding in the Church in Europe, hosted by the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors in Rome in November 2024.

We . . . come together with a shared commitment to enhance the protection and safety of all individuals within our communities – especially children and vulnerable adults. Recognizing the diverse cultural contexts across Europe, we emphasize the importance of fostering a common language of safeguarding that respects these differences and of working collaboratively to eliminate the many forms of abuse through institutional and community conversion.

We acknowledge the need to address that perpetrators in the Church must not only be subject to due process, and held to account for their actions, but also require support and supervision to reduce the likelihood of recurrence of abuse.