Pope Leo XIV receives the President of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors XIV, Archbishop Thibault Verny of Chambéry, France, along with Commission Secretary, Bishop Luis Manuel Alí Herrera. During the encounter, the Commission President presented the Second Annual Report on Policies and Procedures for Protection in the Church to the Pope.
Vatican News
Pope Leo XIV received the President of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors XIV, Archbishop Thibault Verny, Archbishop of Chambéry, on Friday in the Vatican.
The encounter marks the first official meeting between the President of the Commission and the Holy Father, following Archbishop Verny’s appointment on July 15.
The Commission’s Secretary, Bishop Luis Manuel Alí Herrera, accompanied the Commission President.
The audience was requested by Archbishop Verny in order to personally express his gratitude to the Holy Father for the trust placed in him through the appointment, and to present the Second Annual Report on Policies and Procedures for Protection in the Church.
This report, established at the initiative of Pope Francis in 2022, aims to assess the safeguarding capacities of local Churches, offering practical recommendations based on the concrete experiences of various ecclesial regions.
During the meeting, the Commission President underscored, the Commission’s commitment to continuing the mission entrusted to it by Pope Francis through Praedicate Evangelium, in the development of safeguarding policies, the drafting of the annual report, and support for local Churches through the Memorare Initiative.
“With humility and hope,” Archbishop Verny reaffirmed, “the Commission continues the mission entrusted to us, advancing the Holy Father’s vision of rooting throughout the Church a culture of prevention that tolerates no form of abuse: neither of power or authority, nor of conscience or spirituality, nor of sexual abuse.”
