The protection of children and vulnerable adults  

 One inescapable dimension of our current context as religious of the Society of Mary in the Church is that of the devastation caused to victims of sexual abuse. Some of our Marist confreres live in European countries where independent national commissions have reviewed the handling of cases by church authorities.  

 No consideration of our reality today can avoid confronting the reality of what victims have suffered and the shadow it casts on us as a religious body. We feel for those amongst us who are burdened by this suffering in different ways.  

 We cannot move forward without both listening to victims and learning from them the impact these actions have on their lives. If we fail to acknowledge their experience and avoid taking responsibility for our own errors, we forfeit any credibility as religious. While we may be tempted to shy away from owning the whole truth of our past, it does not serve the Church nor the Society of Mary.  

 Protecting the vulnerable is a ministry and our mission. As we go forward, it remains paramount for us to “promote a safeguarding culture in our own houses, in our ministries, in our institutions and in all places where we work and where we are…” (GC2017, No. 40).  

 The European Province is grateful to those lay and religious who carry responsibility for this ministry on our behalf. Each national unit is committed to following the national safeguarding guidelines of their country where we are present.