The Catholic Church must do a better job of managing compensation for victims of clergy sexual abuse, the Vatican’s child protection commission said Tuesday in its first annual report.

The Church has been rocked by scandals around the world for decades, involving pedophile priests and the cover-up of their crimes.

These scandals have damaged the church’s credibility and cost it hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements.

The commission said the compensation went beyond money and included “a much broader spectrum of actions.”

This includes acknowledging mistakes, public apologies, and other forms of true brotherly closeness to victim-survivors.

The commission said it would delve into the reparations issue in its report next year.

Pope Francis created the anti-abuse commission in 2013.

He faced some of the strongest criticism over clergy abuse during a visit to Belgium in September, where the king and prime minister called for more help for victims.

A Vatican summit of world bishops this month ended with a final text apologizing several times for the “unspeakable and ongoing” pain suffered by Catholics abused by clergy.

Tuesday’s report called for greater transparency and for victims to have more access to documents related to them.

He said investigations and trials by the Vatican’s doctrinal office (DDF) were too slow and secret.

The Colombian bishop and secretary of the commission, Luis Manuel Alí Herrera, said that “the lack of communication” during meetings with the victims “was a permanent and constant complaint.”

Juan Carlos Cruz, a Chilean abuse survivor and member of the commission, said the lack of information was “a form of new trauma for many survivors, who have no idea where their abuse case is.”

Other recommendations included the creation of a Vatican Ombudsman for victims, ensuring more effective punishment for offending clergy and an invitation to Francis to write an encyclical – the highest form of papal teaching – on the protection of children.

Devastating realities

The anti-abuse commission is the first of its kind in the Catholic Church, but abuse survivors have accused it of being ineffective.

Several of its former members have also left bitterly.

The commission includes priests, nuns and non-Catholics.

He joined the DDF in 2022 in an effort to increase his influence, but the report highlighted how he still struggles to make himself heard.

American Cardinal Sean O’Malley, who heads the commission, said things were improving, although he acknowledged “frustration with the slow pace of change” in the past.

The co-chair of Bishop Accountability’s abuse monitoring group, Anne Barrett Doyle, said Tuesday’s report amounted to window dressing.

“It doesn’t focus on the core, devastating realities,” he said.

“That children in the Catholic Church continue to be sexually assaulted by clergy, and that universal church law still allows these priests to be reinstated if certain conditions are met.”

Reuters