Pope Leo XIV Appoints New President to Lead Vatican’s Child Safeguarding Commission

Under O’Malley’s leadership, the Vatican released its first report on the Church’s safeguarding efforts worldwide in October of 2024. 

Verny was made a member of the pontifical commission by Pope Francis in 2022 and has since been active in the Vatican’s international safeguarding efforts in different countries, including the Central African Republic and the Ivory Coast.

In his first statement as president of the pontifical commission, the French archbishop said the Church cannot “impose” safeguarding models nor “avoid hard conversations” about taboo topics in local traditions.

“Our work must begin by listening — with humility, with respect, and with cultural intelligence,” the archbishop said on Saturday.

Since 2022, Verny has also chaired the French Bishops’ Conference’s council for preventing and combating child abuse while being a member of the Vatican commission.

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Between 2016 and 2023, he served as auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Paris, where he was tasked with upholding the agreement between the archdiocese and local authorities to facilitate the reporting of abuse allegations to the civil courts.

In 2023, Verny was appointed archbishop of Chambéry in southeast France.

Kristina Millare is a freelance journalist with a professional communications background in the humanitarian aid and development sector, news journalism, entertainment marketing, politics and government, business and entrepreneurship.