“Communication is an instrument of the fight against abuse, not a technique of defence”, said Fr Federico Lombardi SJ during a talk with the communication delegates of the six Jesuit conferences around the world.
Fr Lombardi, who has worked in communications for three popes and who moderated the Vatican summit on sexual abuse last February, highlighted the need to build a culture of prevention and awareness in our communities, and to fight against a fear of renewal in the Church.
“We have to see with a larger view how to convert our life and attitude to prevent this crime [of abuse]”, he said.
In this area, communicators, including journalists, play an important role.
“You are our allies in the fight against abuse,” said Fr Lombardi. He told the conference communicators: “We have to be involved in helping the Church”.
He said there is now enough knowledge on what to do. The problem is how to share this knowledge. This was one of the themes of the February summit. It was an occasion to grow a common awareness of the instruments to fight abuse, he said.
“I hope your service as communicators extends to how we can cope with the crisis in particular situations and that you communicate initiatives of the Society towards safeguarding in the different fields we work,” he said.
Fr Lombardi also called attention to the problems posed by the digital age. He said the digital world has made children vulnerable to dangers lurking online. “Children have access to an ocean of adult pornography”, he said.
The priest, who works in collaboration with the Centre for Child Protection of the Jesuit-run Gregorian University, stressed the need to protect children and to address the profundity of the wounds and consequences in the life of the victims and find ways for them to heal. Ignatian Spirituality can be an instrument for this need.
“The Jesuits, with the Spiritual Exercises, have to help in the process of reconciliation and re-integration with the faith because many of the victims have not lost their faith”, he said.
Fr Lombardi addressed the communication delegates on the third day of the four-day meeting in Rome. The delegates represented the Jesuit conferences of Africa and Madagascar, Latin America and the Caribbean, Europe, Canada and the United States, South Asia, and Asia Pacific.