The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, led by Cardinal Seán Patrick O’Malley of Boston, held a three-day seminar on “the rights of presumed minor victims of sexual abuse in canonical criminal proceedings.”

“These moments of study and research are an important part of the commission’s mandate to truly have frank and informed conversations about what is not working and what must be improved in our safeguarding systems,” Cardinal O’Malley said.

Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta, who also serves as adjunct secretary of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, renewed his call for victims to be informed of the outcome of canonical trials. “Many victims are hurt by the fact that they do not receive the final report,” he noted in 2019. “It’s a lack of respect.”