Safeguarding of young people and vulnerable adults: a new structure for CO.BE.TU.

15 experts in law, formation and  psychology,  from different geographical and cultural areas. An independent team that collaborates and supervises both the safeguarding and protection of young people and cases of abuse of power within the Focolare Movement.

This team took office on September 17 and its coordinator is the Italian lawyer Orazio Moscatello, a criminal and civil lawyer, expert in Family and Juvenile Law.

The Commission for the Safeguarding and Protection of Young People and Vulnerable Adults (CO.BE.TU.) has been expanded and strengthened in order to offer an increasingly competent and comprehensive service to those who have suffered or are suffering abuse within the Focolare Movement and to those who wish to report that this is or has taken place.

The new members will be able to  intervene and make a professional contribution in two specific areas:

•  training and prevention
•  management of reports of abuse, both sexual abuse of young people  and abuse of power.

“The issue of abuse was one of the priorities dealt with by the Focolare General Assembly last January,”  Orazio Moscatello explains.  “The Assembly is aware of what has been done and is  being done now in  this field, but it has called for a renewed commitment to prevent abuse on the part of  all members of the Movement, as stated in the final working document.“

In fact, point 2 of the text presents the conclusions and commitment of the Focolare for the next 5 years by stating: “We commit ourselves to strengthen what is already in place to prevent all forms of abuse – physical, sexual or abuse of power or conscience. We ask the victims for forgiveness and assure them of our complete support;  with great sorrow, we  recognize,  all those situations in which we have not been able to protect them. We are committed to an even greater  fostering of a culture of safeguarding and protection for all people, providing appropriate training and using clear communication.”

Shortly after this declaration was drafted, Focolare President Margaret Karram arranged for the Commission for the Safegarding  of Young People and the Independent Commission for the Protection of Adults to be unified into a single entity. In addition, to ensure the full independence of the commission, its members will not have roles of responsibility in the central or dispersed instruments of governance  of the Movement,during their three-year term of office.

Stefania Tanesini

For further information or to report situations of abuse, contact: cobetu@focolare.org