DownloadHOLY SEE
Oblate speaks at Vatican conference
Fr. Bryan SILVA, currently a member of the
faculty at Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, Texas, was a part of a team from St. Luke Institute near Washington, D.C.,
offering expertise at the Anglophone Conference, Youth Protection Going Global,
at the Vatican last May 29-June 5. Presentations were made by various
international experts. The Conference was held at the Holy Father’s residence,
the Domus Santae Marthae.
Fr. Silva spoke on assessing the risk of recidivism in those clergy who have been accused or have been proven to have offended in the past. Several geographic regions reported on their efforts to broaden efforts at child protection to include work place issues, the impact of sexual tourism and of poverty on children in their locales. Others spoke about the impact of internet pornography, the construction of safety plans for offending clergy, the efforts of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) and the Vatican’s handling of laicization cases in these cases.
The conference, hosted by the Vatican each year for English-speaking dioceses, draws bishops, laity and professionals in psychology, social work and child protection from various parts of the globe. Dioceses from England, Ireland, Scotland, Sri Lanka, India, Chile, Australia, Singapore, Zambia, Sierra Leone, and other parts of Africa attended this year. (OMI USA, November 2013)
