A month after the conclusion of the Meeting on the Protection of Minors held in the Vatican, a meeting greatly desired by Pope Francis, three very significant documents are being published that respond to the concrete demands expressed by the People of God to address the scourge of the sexual abuse of minors. Announced this past February 24, this is the first important step following the summit of the Episcopal Conferences.

Significantly, all three documents – the laws on the protection of minors in Vatican City State, the Motu proprio which applies the norms to the Roman Curia, and the Guidelines for the Vicariate of Vatican City – are signed by the Holy Father. Together, these acts reinforce the protection of minors by strengthening the normative framework.

The Holy Father hopes that – thanks also to these norms which pertain to Vatican City State and to the Roman Curia – everyone might develop in their awareness that the Church must always be ever increasingly a safe home for children and vulnerable persons.