Last week he told the Otago Daily Times Insight the international gathering of bishops was about getting "attitudes right".

Pope Francis had indicated new guidelines would follow on the response to the sexual abuse crisis within the church, and it was hoped those would contain concrete steps to address the issue, Dooley said.

He was also positive about the Pope's commitment to "spare no effort" in tackling abuse, despite outrage from survivors who wanted a "zero tolerance" commitment from the Vatican.

"My gut feeling is that Pope Francis wants to deal with this," Dooley said.

"I think the 'spare no effort' is, to my mind, a strong indication to do something. I would take it in a positive light - that we are to do everything we can."

In New Zealand, the Vatican statements gave fresh "impetus and encouragement" to cement new safeguarding principles for clergy and volunteers within the church, he said.

He was also hopeful the church was moving towards the kind of greater disclosure demanded by victim and survivor advocate Dr Murray Heasley.

"I think what [Dr Heasley's] resolution wanted was very much what the general thrust of the summit was, but they mightn't be quite up to there yet."

Many activists and survivors were expecting more from the Vatican Summit.

Time Magazine reports that Francis offered no detailed plan on how to prevent abuse or binding rules on how to deal with abusers and cooperate with law enforcement.

A promise to issue a new guidebook for bishops received short shrift from advocates.

"Over the years, we've seen many church leaders write new guidelines, which are then developed, watered down, published and ignored," says Colm O'Gorman, an Irish survivor of clergy abuse who now heads the Irish branch of Amnesty International.

Source

• odt.co.nz
• time.com
• cbc.ca

Heasley is an Auckland-based spokesperson for the Network of Survivors of Abuse in Faith-based Institutions and their Supporters.

He was speaking from Rome to the Otago Daily Times' Insight.

"It displayed a tone-deafness and insensitivity to the victims of the most horrific child sex abuse that was particularly unfortunate given the reason for the summit," he said.

Heasley said the only positive to come from events in Rome was a "clear shift" in the narrative, towards the voices of survivors and advocates.

That included a haka performed by Heasley at St Peter's Square, which drew international media attention and sought to show survivors were now "warriors in a battle in which we will prevail".

It also included support from the Ending Clergy Abuse Global (ECAG) group, which endorsed a resolution from Heasley calling on the Vatican to instruct New Zealand's bishops to open all archives to independent scrutiny.

"New Zealand is now squarely in the global spotlight after this Rome summit," Heasley said.

Peter Isely, a spokesperson for ECAG, said groups demanded "concrete" measures and didn't see them, despite the pope promising exactly that.

"Why can't he enact zero-tolerance into church law? He has the power to do that."

There are some who believe at least a little progress has been made. If "zero tolerance" - a phrase with many meanings - means holding bishops accountable for failures to act on abuse allegations, then the meeting demonstrated that real progress is underway."

Source

• odt.co.nz
• commonwealmagazine.org
• Image: screenshot newshub.co.nz

Smith is hopeful of an audience with Pope Francis while in Rome.

With him he is carrying a letter of introduction from Dunedin Bishop Michael Dooley.

Dooley helped pay for Smith's trip, using personal rather than diocesan funds.

Speaking at Auckland Airport before his departure on Tuesday night, Smith said he was excited and nervous ahead of his long flight.

He expected the nerves would be joined by a feeling of anger as he finally met with church officials at the Vatican.

"It depends what they have to say. If they're negative, I'll tell them what I think of them.

"It's going to be quite a big step to go and see these people and actually talk to them," Smith said.

"I don't think the Vatican or the Church has accepted anything yet."

A self-published book, A Shattered Life, outlining his experiences, will be on hand to give to church leaders.

Dooley helped fund the trip after being moved by Smith's story.

"He's a survivor who's actually done extremely well considering what he's gone through.

"In a way, he represents a lot of other people."

Referring to a possible meeting with Pope Francis, Dooley said he would not underestimate what Smith could achieve.

"Pope Francis has got a particular interest in smaller places, in the parts of the world that sometimes don't get much publicity, so who knows?

"It could be that Darryl is regarded as someone who could be a good representative to meet.

"He's realistic to know that even if he doesn't ... being over there, it's an important thing that he's doing."

Also flying to Rome is Dr Murray Heasley, an Auckland-based spokesman for the Network of Survivors of Abuse in Faith-based Institutions and Their Supporters.

He has been named as New Zealand's representative on the Ending Clergy Abuse Global (ECAG) group, which is holding five days of meetings and events during the bishops' gathering.

Source

radionz.co.nz

odt.co.nz

stuff.co.nz

Image: stuff.co.nz

The conference is entitled "Drugs and addictions, an obstacle to integral human development."

Presentations will include best practices for treatment and prevention.

The Dicastery says almost five percent of the world's population has, at some point, taken drugs.

"29.6 million of those users suffer from drug disorders. This means that their drug-taking is harmful to the point that they experience drug dependence and require treatment."

The Dicastery says another cause for alarm is that society sees many drugs as a form of leisure, recreational activity and even as a sign of wealth and status. The implications of legalising various substances, including cannabis, is included in the conference agenda.

Professor Nicolò Pisanu, President of Pontifical Salesian University's Institute of Psychopedagogical and Social Sciences and head of the "Progetto Uomo" [Human Project] of the Italian Federation of Therapeutic Communities, says there has recently been a change in the world of science when it comes to drugs.

This has seen the term "substances" change to "dependencies."

Pisanu says the reason for this change is that the type of addictions themselves have changed, and that "with new dependencies such as gambling and the internet, you can't speak about substances anymore."

"They are phenomena that bring dependency" and, because of this, there has also been a change in the type of therapeutic treatments offered to addicts.

Pisanu says conference organisers chose "the most important, the most widespread, the most concerning" of the new addictions to be the focus of the conference.

These are gambling, sex, and the internet.

Speakers at the conference include Cardinal Peter Turkson, President of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, and Italian Health Minister Giulia Grillo.

Representatives from the World Federation against Drugs, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and the Carabinieri, one of Italy's police forces, are also presenting at the conference.

Source

• Crux Now
• Vatican News
• Image: Crux Now