Rome (AP) – Pope Leo Xiv expressed his commitment to continuing his fight against sexual abuse by clergy, which was appointed by the Bishop of France, Thibault Verny, headed the Vatican's Child Protection Advisory Committee on Saturday.
Verny, 59, replaced American Cardinal Sean O'Malley, who was retired archbishop of Boston. O'Malley is the founding chairman of the Council on the Protection of Religious Religion of Minors, an advisory group Francis, founded in 2014 to provide churches with best practice advice to fight abuse and protection of children.
As the global abuse scandal spread across the globe during Francis’ 12-year period, the committee initially lost its influence and its highest advice – setting up a court for the bishop covered up for the priests of the predator, and there was nowhere to go. After years of reform and new membership, it has become a place where victims can be heard, and bishops can get advice on fighting abuse on developing guidelines.
Verny is currently the Bishop of Champery, France, and has been a member of the committee since 2022 and is responsible for the Child Protection Committee of the French Bishops' Conference, where the church is shocked by the abuses of pastors and bishops for decades of revelation. He was one of the committee members who met with Leo last month.
The Bishop is responsible for annual audits of victims of the French church centre, an initiative that began after a devastating report on the French scandal in 2021, with an estimated 330,000 children in France being sexually abused by church personnel over the past 70 years.
Cardinal O'Malley praised the appointment, saying Villey had developed in-depth experience to help victims and work with law enforcement and civil authorities to ensure “a serious failure for the French church.”
In a statement, O'Malley also praised Leo for continuing to regard the committee as a priority.
“In his early months, the Father’s Word and deeds ensured the world that the church did not become complacent in ensuring as much as possible the efforts of protecting children, vulnerable adults and all in our community,” he said.
Verny praised O'Malley for his leadership as brave and was once the church's “moral compass”, which refers to O'Malley's occasional anger when an abuse case broke out in Francis.
“I work with members and personnel to build this legacy,” Verny said in a statement.
The American-born pope made a date the day before the Pope's summer retreat south of Rome headed for a six-week vacation.
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