Composition and Members, Plenary Assembly, Personnel, Working Groups, and   
   General Norms.   
    The first part explains that the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of   
   Minors is an autonomous institution linked to the Holy See with a public legal   
   personality and has an advisory function in the service of the Holy Father. The   
   protection of minors, the text continues, is of the first importance, and   
   therefore it is the role of the Commission to propose initiatives to the   
   Pontiff, following the modalities indicated in the Statutes, to promote the   
   responsibility of the particular Churches in the protection of all minors and   
   vulnerable adults. These proposals will have to receive prior approval by the   
   majority of two thirds of the members of the Commission. For the elaboration of   
   the proposals, when the matter falls within the competence of other ecclesial   
   bodies, the president of the Commission, with the assistance of the secretary,   
   will consult the competent entities for the protection of minors in the   
   particular Churches, the episcopal conferences, the conferences of the   
   Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life, as well as   
   the dicastery of the Roman Curia competent in the matter. This consultation   
   will   
   take place in a transparent manner with the members of the Commission, based in   
   Vatican City State.   
    The Commission, according to the second part, is composed of a maximum of   
   eighteen members appointed by the Holy Father for a three-year period, which   
   may   
   be reconfirmed, and are selected from persons of recognised competence in   
   various areas linked to the activity entrusted to the Commission. Both the   
   president and the secretary are appointed from among the members by the Holy   
   Father for a period of three years, a mandate that may be reconfirmed.   
    The plenary assembly, as explained in the third part, will be convoked twice   
   yearly. Upon request by two thirds of the Members and with the consent of the   
   president, an extraordinary plenary assembly may be convoked. For the plenary   
   assembly to be considered valid, at least two thirds of the members must be   
   present; they may participate via video conference.   
    The members of the Commission, the personnel and the collaborators with the   
   working groups, according to the final part, are required to observe the norms   
   of professional secrecy regarding the news and information they become aware of   
   in the exercise of their tasks and functions.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Publication of the Chirograph by which Pope Francis instituted the Pontifical   
   Commission for the Protection of Minors   
    Vatican City, 8 May 2015 (VIS) - To complete the publication of the Statutes,   
   the Chirograph by which the Pope instituted the Pontifical Commission for the   
   Protection of Minors on 22 March 2014 was also published today.   
    "The effective protection of minors and a commitment to ensure their human and   
   spiritual development, in keeping with the dignity of the human person, are   
   integral parts of the Gospel message that the Church and all members of the   
   faithful are called to spread throughout the world. Many painful actions have   
   caused a profound examination of conscience for the entire Church, leading us   
   to   
   request forgiveness from the victims and from our society for the harm that has   
   been caused. This response to these actions is the firm beginning for   
   initiatives of many different types, which are intended to repair the damage,   
   to   
   attain justice, and to prevent, by all means possible, the recurrence of   
   similar   
   incidents in the future.   
    For these reasons, and after having received the counsel of many cardinals and   
   members of the college of bishops, together with other collaborators and   
   experts   
   in these matters, I decided to continue the work begun by my Predecessors by   
   establishing a permanent Commission attached to the Holy See. The aim of the   
   Commission is to promote the protection of the dignity of minors and vulnerable   
   adults, using the forms and methods, consonant with the nature of the Church,   
   which they consider most appropriate, as well as through their cooperation with   
   individuals and groups pursuing these same objectives.   
    As I had the opportunity to highlight during an encounter with several victims   
   of sexual abuse, I rely on the members of this Commission for the effective   
   protection of minors and vulnerable adults, regardless of religion they   
   profess,   
   because they are the little ones on whom the Lord looks with love. To my   
   collaborators in this work, I ask for all efforts possible to assist me in   
   responding to these needs of these little ones.   
    The Commission's specific task is to propose to me the most opportune   
   initiatives for protecting minors and vulnerable adults, in order that we may   
   do   
   everything possible to ensure that crimes such as those which have occurred are   
   no longer repeated in the Church. The Commission is to promote local   
   responsibility in the particular Churches, uniting their efforts to those of   
   the   
   Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, for the protection of all children   
   and vulnerable adults.   
    It is for all these reasons that I have instituted the Pontifical Commission   
   for the Protection of Minors.   
    All that is established with the present Chirograph has full and stable   
   effect,   
   anything to the contrary not notwithstanding, even if deserving of special   
   mention".   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    The Pope meets with a group of evangelical pastors   
    Vatican City, 8 May 2015 (VIS) - Yesterday afternoon the Holy Father received   
   in private a group of around one hundred Pentecostal evangelical pastors from   
   various parts of the world, who had expressed their wish to meet him. The group   
   was led by Pastor Giovanni Traettino, whose community the Pope visited in   
   Caserta last year. The meeting took place in the room adjacent to the Paul VI   
   Hall and was characterised by lively cordiality and a spirit of prayer for   
   unity. The Holy Father was accompanied by Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the   
   Pontifical Council for Christian Unity.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
    Audiences   
    Vatican City, 8 May 2015 (VIS) - The Holy Father received in audience:   
    - Cardinal George Pell, prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy;   
    - Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, S.D.B., emeritus secretary of State;   
    - Cardinal Franc Rode, prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the Institutes   
   of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life;   
    - Cardinal Antonio Maria Veglio, president of the Pontifical Council for the   
   Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant Peoples.   
      
   ___________________________________________________________   
      
   For more information and to search for documents refer to the site:   
   www.visnews.org and www.vatican.va   
      
   Copyright (VIS):  the news contained in the services of the Vatican   
   Information Service may be reproduced wholly or partially by quoting   
   the source:  V. I. S. - Vatican Information Service.   
   http://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/vis/vis_en.html   
      
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