From September 15 to 19, Regnum Christi teams -Legionnaires, Consecrated Women, Laity Consecrated and lay people who collaborate in different works and apostolates - gathered in Atlanta to work together in the area of Safe Environments. The objective was not only to review protocols, but to deepen a culture of care that is born of the Gospel and that seeks to ensure the dignity of each person in our communities.
«The meeting encourages us to see that we are going beyond drawing up protocols,» explained Elena Bartolomé. Together we are creating a culture of good treatment, prudence and care. There is still a long way to go, but these days confirm that prevention can be lived day by day in our communities, in our apostolic works and in every place where our mission is being carried out.
During the conference, topics such as the accompaniment of victims of abuse, reflection on abuse of power and conscience, aspects of canon law and the use of new tools such as artificial intelligence applied to prevention were discussed.
A central aspect was listening: to recognize, above all, the victims of abuse, who need comprehensive support and real paths of reparation. Alongside them, there are also other voices that await clear answers and concrete gestures: families who require guarantees of safety, priests who seek support and formation to exercise their ministry with freedom and responsibility, consecrated women and consecrated laity who wish to be accompanied in their apostolic mission, and a society that asks for transparency. In this context, it was reiterated that the commitment of Regnum Christi is to work to prevent and deal seriously with each complaint, guaranteeing fair processes for all those affected.
«I believe that the fact that the team is actively training and caring for the members and faithful with whom we have contact,» added Josefina Cañas, "makes us as a family feel accompanied, listened to and even learn to take care of ourselves and our own families.
«We must speak of institutional actions for safe environments with a preventive rather than reactive approach,» emphasized Alfredo Navarrete. These actions foster a safe environment for the performance of our activities, offering families the guarantee of participating in an environment where the well-being and care of people is privileged, following established standards and protocols. In this sense, it is important to adequately communicate the institutional actions undertaken to create spaces where healthy coexistence is lived in all our educational and apostolic works".
The meeting recalled that prevention begins with the protection of the most vulnerable and extends to comprehensive care: that members find support to avoid risks and that communities live healthy relationships. In this framework, the importance of any process being carried out with fairness and transparency was underlined, recalling that credibility is built not only on truth, but also on consistency between what is communicated and what is done, on the constancy of efforts and on the professionalism with which standards of care and attention are applied.
«The biggest challenge for a culture of safe environments to be really solid is not in designing rules, but in making it a conviction shared by all members of the community," Catalina said. Gallego-. This really requires putting the victims at the center, always ensuring that they are listened to, cared for and accompanied. It also means building trust, so that each person perceives consistency between what is announced and what is practiced, and feels that he/she is in an environment where he/she can express him/herself, be protected and grow freely. A strong culture is nourished by ongoing formation and constant listening, but above all by the certainty that safe environments are not an external requirement, but an essential part of the mission: to care for the dignity and well-being of each person as a concrete expression of fidelity to the Gospel».
«Xavier Castro, LC, reflected, »We are striving to make our environments more and more evangelizing, betting on more constructive spaces, more filled with authentic love. Basically, it is a matter of creating authentically Christian environments, where the integral good of people is protected and sought".
The participants agreed that the work of Safe Environments requires clearly confronting everything that could jeopardize people's trust and dignity. But the effort does not end there: it also means promoting communities that breathe the Gospel, characterized by respect, joy and sincere affection.
«The greatest challenge we have is communion,» said Jaime Pérez, "to feel what others feel in order to be able to protect, help and prevent them. All this can be summed up in a spirit of charity, being united to Jesus Christ with the same feelings, with the same desire for salvation. This is the only way to work with professional efficiency and at the same time with a pastoral heart, because we all form a single body of Christ, which is the one we are protecting and defending".
The image that remained was that of a symphony: God himself is the one who plays the music of his love, and each member is called to be a living note of that harmony. Only in this way, what is worked out in protocols and processes becomes a testimony that touches hearts and opens paths of renewed trust.
