Nairobi, 03 November, 2019 / 7:32 pm (ACI Africa).
At a recent meeting in Kenya’s capital Nairobi that brought together diocesan Coordinators of the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS) and Pontifical Missionary Children (PMC), the need to enhance the protection and safeguarding of children in the Church featured prominently, with the clergy and religious in attendance admitting cases of child abuse in their country and a Bishop calling on adherence to child safeguarding policies.
“It is a sad thing, to hear children who look up to us clergy for guidance and also models that we can turn against these children who are very vulnerable and then we assault them,” the PMS director and executive secretary of the Bishop of Kenya’s Kitui diocese, Fr. John Wambua Kivosyo told ACI Africa Wednesday, October 30 on the sidelines of the their four-day meeting.
Hinting to the reality of child abuse in Kenya, Fr. Kivosyo said, “One of the things that saddens me is that some abuses happen and some people try to cover. When we cover up, we hurt these children more because they continue being abused in silence.”
The imparting of gospel values needs to be priority of children animators, Fr. Kivosyo noted and expressed keenness on knowing what those assigned the duty of animating children in Church pass on to the children placed under their care.
Monitoring what children animators teach is important, Fr. Kivosyo said and explained, “because some people are teaching their own wisdom and these may impact negatively (on) the children as they are not teaching the (Christian) doctrine.”
