Will the Vatican’s sexual abuse summit make a difference?

This week on “Inside the Vatican,” we take a look at the newly announced committee that will plan the Vatican’s upcoming, high-stakes summit on sexual abuse. One committee member, Cardinal Oswald Gracias of India, told Crux in October that the meeting “will be successful, or it will be a disaster for the Church.”

So, can it succeed in creating lasting change?

In this week’s episode, we try to answer that question by looking at the plans for the meeting. It will have a structure similar to the last synod, with listening sessions, work in language groups and involvement from lay people and religious. In addition, bishops will listen to speeches by survivors of sexual abuse and participate in a penitential liturgy with them. The goal, committee member Archbishop Charles Scicluna told Gerry, is to get the bishops “on the same page” with Pope Francis about sexual abuse. The real change, we conclude, will depend on how the bishops decide to follow through after the summit ends.

Read more:

• Exclusive: Archbishop Scicluna says February meeting start of ‘global approach’ to fighting sex abuse
• Pope Francis summons the world’s top bishops for sexual abuse prevention summit

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