A Catholic association in Philippines is campaigning to curtail the sexual abuse of minors by priests in the country.
Father Edwin Gariguez, Executive Secretary of Caritas Philippines, said that conducting intensive background checks of all Caritas directors is one of the measures.
He said they would make proactive background checks of all directors at the national and diocesan levels.
The priest made the statement during the launching of the “Alay Kapwa” Lenten campaign for Luzon at the Cathedral Shrine and Parish of the Good Shepherd in Quezon City on Feb. 3.
Caritas Philippines, also known as the National Secretariat for Social Action, Justice and Peace (Nassa), is the social action arm of the Catholic Church in the country. It is a member of Caritas Internationalis, the global confederation of 165 national Catholic relief and development agencies.
Father Gariguez said that the goal is to determine whether a priest has been involved in any abuse case, particularly of children.
In May last year, Pope Francis said that all dioceses must have a “public, accessible and reliable” system for reporting cases of clergy sex abuses. It includes the obligation for clerics and religious to report abuse, while every diocese must provide itself with a system that is easily accessible to the public, to receive such reports.
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