The Focolare Movement makes public the measures to be taken regarding the safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults in response to the Independent Inquiry by GCPS Consulting

19 May 2022 | Centro internazionale, Non categorizzato, Tutela minori

Significant steps forward are being taken to expand and strengthen measures concerning prevention, training, compensation, and the assessment of responsibility. These will guarantee justice to all victims and implement a culture in which absolute priority is given to charity, to the dignity of the person, and to safety and transparency in all areas of the Movement. “Today we are publishing a first response to the recommendations made by the  Report issued by GCPS Consulting on the cases of child abuse by a former member of the Focolare Movement in France. We realise that these initial measures are not exhaustive, but form part of a decisive process of realignment of the life and activities of the Movement so that children and every person, in all their diversity, are at the centre of all processes concerning care, safeguarding, reparation and new beginnings“. With these words Margaret Karram, President of the Focolare Movement, presented the steps the Movement is now taking, thanks also to the recommendations made by GCPS Consulting. These measures are in addition to the Guidelines for the Safeguarding of Children and Vulnerable Adults (being followed in the Focolare Movement since 2014 and currently being revised according to international standards) and to the training courses on safeguarding for members of the Movement. “First and foremost,” she explained, “I wish to address all victims of sexual abuse, particularly in France. Personally and on behalf of the Movement I wish to thank you for your courage in sharing your testimony and your pain. For us they are the essential starting point in this process of purification. I also wish to thank the community of the Movement in France for its courage in the face of so much suffering. We now announce the establishment of a central disciplinary commission, which will have the task of assessing the responsibilities of the Movement’s leadership, in cases of abuse, in order to reach clarity and provide justice for the victims. Margaret Karram concluded, “First and foremost we are placing the Gospel at the basis of this process of renewal. We want to put the Gospel back at the centre of all we do. Moreover, the serious challenges that the world is experiencing today call for a renewed application of the spirituality of unity so that it can be an instrument of fraternity and peace.” The measures set out below will be implemented over the short, medium, and long term and are considered the most urgent and essential steps to set the Movement firmly on a path of reparation and positive new beginnings.

• Victims at the centre: the President’s personal request for forgiveness

The victims of abuse are the absolute priority in this process. Therefore, listening, asking for forgiveness, offering help and the path of reparation are the starting point. Margaret Karram has been in contact personally, when possible while respecting their privacy, with the victims in France. Her wish is to reach them all, while respecting those who wish to remain anonymous.  A network for welcoming and listening to victims Local commissions for the welfare and safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults will be strengthened (where they already exist) or be set up wherever necessary and will include professionals in the fields of psychology, law, training, and education. These commissions are independent of the governance bodies of the Focolare Movement and will be the point of contact for allegations of abuse and have the task of initiating procedures. The local commissions will also serve as listening points and the first port of call for anyone wishing to share their experience of abuse, violence, distress, or traumatic experiences of any kind, also accessing – if requested – counselling to identify the next steps. In this respect, listening points are already active in some countries, such as France and Germany.

• Drawing up a protocol for the compensation of victims of abuse committed within the Focolare Movement

A Focolare Movement procedure for compensating victims is being drawn up.

• Establishment of a disciplinary commission

A central disciplinary commission will be established, made up for the most part of external professionals in the fields of law and psychology, to assess the responsibility of the leadership of the Focolare Movement in dealing with sexual abuse, spiritual abuse, and the abuse of authority. It will work on the basis of a disciplinary code, which will be drawn up in agreement with the Commission itself, and will establish ethical principles and sanctions.

• Publication of an annual report in the whole world

A report on the work carried out by the Central Commission for the Welfare and Safeguarding of Children and Vulnerable Adults (CO.BE.TU) on cases of abuse and on measures taken regarding prevention, and on the safeguarding of children, will be published annually.

• Safeguarding is the responsibility of all the Movement’s members

To strengthen this awareness, the Movement will enable every member, including children and those who wish to become members, to attend a foundation course on the safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults, organised by the local commissions for the welfare and safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults.

• Training courses for those in leadership roles

Courses are being prepared to train those in leadership roles – at whatever level they work – to implement forms of co-responsibility, greater transparency in decision-making processes, the alternating of roles, and training in accompaniment in the light of the distinction between the sphere of governance and the sphere of conscience.

• Opportunities for sharing and courses for the Focolare Movement’s wider communities

The wider Focolare communities in various localities should enable the necessary processes of discernment, open dialogue, and an understanding of correct relational dynamics. Following the publication of the Independent Inquiry by GCPS Consulting, many of the Movement’s groups and communities have already begun to have times of sharing and dialogue on issues regarding abuses. The Movement encourages such initiatives with the support of experts and professionals, where necessary or requested, taking into account different cultural sensitivities.

Stefania Tanesini

The Focolare Movement publishes the results of an Independent Inquiry into cases of abuse by a former consecrated member in France

30 Mar 2022 | Centro internazionale, Non categorizzato, Tutela minori

Margaret Karram: “I commit myself on behalf of the Focolare Movement to respond with action, listening, openness and preventive measures, to the final recommendations made by the Independent Inquiry.”

The Focolare Movement has announced the results of the investigation carried out by an external and independent body into the cases of sexual abuse involving JMM, a former consecrated member of the Focolare Movement in France.

On 23rd December 2020, the Focolare Movement entrusted the Inquiry to the British company GCPS Consulting, an independent body whose mission has always been to help institutions improve their systems for preventing and reporting abuse. To ensure the integrity, quality and reliability of the inquiry process and its results, the Focolare Movement also appointed Alain Christnacht, a former senior French civil servant, as an independent supervisor, with no connection to the Movement.

At the request of the victims, the Focolare Movement entrusted the inquiry to an independent Commission in the same spirit with which the French Bishops’ Conference commissioned CIASE (Commission indépendante sur les abus sexuels dans l’Église), in February 2019, to carry out an investigation into the whole of the Catholic Church in France with the sole aim of giving absolute priority to the victims in its investigation.

The independent body received testimonies covering the period 1958-2020 which clearly show that JMM was responsible for different levels of abuse of at least 26 victims.

GCPS Consulting summarises the work done for the Inquiry as follows:

“Listening to the victims was one of the main tasks and a challenging part of the process, for the victims and for the Inquiry team, but it is the most important element.

The report describes events over five decades in which JMM abused or attempted to sexually abuse his victims, mainly teenage boys, describing his modus operandi and also the context in which the abuse took place. The investigation listened to other victims of abuse, some sexual and also other types of abuse, from a significant number of victims and witnesses.

The fact that the abuse was widespread and not addressed, even when reported to those in positions of leadership and responsibility, is also a subject of the report. The Inquiry was asked to examine the extent to which the people responsible were aware of these events at the time and subsequently, and to assess how they were addressed. The report describes in detail how complaints were not responded to adequately, victims were not heard, were not treated appropriately, and how opportunities were missed to respond to JMM’s abuse and to prevent subsequent incidents.

Finally, the report details how the Focolare Movement has developed safeguarding measures more recently and makes a number of recommendations to strengthen the safeguarding environment, including those related to fundamental changes in culture and leadership”.

After reviewing the report Margaret Karram, President of the Focolare Movement, said,

“There are no words that can adequately express the shock and pain I feel at the harm that has been done to children and young people by JMM and – I say this with immense suffering – not only by him, as is clear from the results of the inquiry.”

Addressing the victims, she added, ‘In this moment, all my thoughts and feelings are for you who have suffered a very serious crime that in many cases has ruined your lives’.

TO EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU PERSONALLY, AND TOGETHER WITH CO-PRESIDENT JESÚS MORÁN, AND ON BEHALF OF THE FOCOLARE MOVEMENT, I HUMBLY ASK FORGIVENESS

We must recognise that despite the good that the Movement has done throughout its history, here we failed in being vigilant, in listening and in being receptive to the cries for help from so many people. This must not happen again and is in total contradiction with the values that the Focolare Movement with its Christian spirituality is called to live.

I commit myself on behalf of the Focolare Movement, to respond with action, listening, openness and preventive measures, to the final recommendations made by the Independent Inquiry”.

The Focolare Movement is more determined than ever to ensure that its communities around the world are safe places where there can be mutual enrichment. As the GCPS inquiry points out, in 2011 the Movement began an in-depth evaluation of measures to prevent abuse and safeguard people. Those measures were reviewed in 2014 and 2020 and will be further updated after an in-depth study of the results of this inquiry.

The Focolare Movement has informed the French Bishops’ Conference and the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life of the publication of the report.

The Movement’s main concern is to contribute as much as possible to the healing process of the victims, including financial compensation, if necessary and requested. For this reason, on the recommendation of the Church in France, the Focolare Movement has asked the “Commission indépendante de reconnaissance et de réparation” (CRR), a multidisciplinary body composed of experts from civic society and set up by CORREF (Conférence des Religieux et Religieuses de France) to accompany victims who so wish on their path to reparation. As of now, victims can contact this body. Mail: victimes@crr.contact Tel: 09 73 88 25 71 Internet site: https://www.reconnaissancereparation.org In order to fulfil its commitment to the victims of JMM, the Movement has for some months now been running a psychological support procedure coordinated by Dr Alexis Vancappel. This procedure will be maintained for the victims who have already used this service.

The Focolare Movement states that in the coming weeks it will make known the procedures and measures it intends to put in place to respond to the recommendations contained in the report.

The results of the survey are published in full and accessible to all on the GCPS Consulting website and on the French as well as the international website of the Focolare Movement. At present, the survey is available in English, French and Italian. Translations in German, Spanish and Portuguese will be added later.

Stefania Tanesini

Independent investigation (full text)

Summary report

Supervisors report Alain Christnacht

Letter from the Focolare President and Co-President to the members of the Focolare Movement in France