Catholic safeguarding experts in the Philippines said genuine compassion toward clergy offenders means helping them face wrongdoing responsibly, not excusing or concealing their offenses.
Prof. Gabriel Dy-Liacco, president of the Catholic Safeguarding Institute (CSI), said the most compassionate thing the Church can do for offenders is to hold them accountable for their actions.
“From my point of view, holding the person to account is the act of compassion,” said Dy-Liacco, who is also a clinical psychologist and former member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors (PCPM).
He said accountability reflects the Church’s belief that mercy and justice are inseparable, both requiring truth-telling, restitution, and a genuine path toward healing and reform.
Archbishop Florentino Lavarias, chairman of the CBCP Office for the Protection of Minors and Vulnerable Persons, said compassion means accompanying offenders toward conversion without diminishing the gravity of their wrongdoing.
“When we speak of compassion, we enter into the person’s guilt and pain,” he said. “But compassion also calls us to help him recover his sense of responsibility and strive toward responsibility.”
Lavarias, who is also archbishop of San Fernando, said true compassion leads to accountability and reparation, both essential for healing and restoring trust within the faith community.
“Accompanying a person with compassion is helping him regain his capacity to respond to his obligations—to amend what he has done because of his infraction,” he said.
Fr. John Era, a safeguarding trainer for the Conference of Major Superiors in the Philippines, said genuine healing for offenders begins only when they acknowledge their mistakes.
“Real healing happens once you embrace accountability,” Era said. “That means acknowledging the mistakes you’ve committed.”
He cautioned that reconciliation between victim and offender must not be rushed, emphasizing that healing takes time and the victim’s well-being must come first.
Msgr. Ramon Masculino Jr., CSI director for ecclesial relations, echoed Pope Francis’ teaching that mercy and justice must always go hand in hand in Church discipline.
“Charity demands that the Church resort to the penal process—to correct the guilty, restore justice, and avoid unnecessary scandal,” Masculino said, quoting the pope’s teaching on reform and responsibility.
The experts spoke during a recent press briefing for the Oct. 20–23 National Safeguarding Conference in Clark, Pampanga, which seeks to strengthen preventive and pastoral responses to abuse.
The conference, themed “Our Mission of Safeguarding: A Journey of Hope and Compassion,” will gather bishops, religious superiors, clergy, lay leaders, and safeguarding professionals from across the Philippines and neighboring countries.
Organizers said the event also aims to establish regional safeguarding teams to help dioceses and religious congregations replicate effective practices and sustain child protection efforts.
