VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican’s child protection board said Thursday the Catholic Church has a moral obligation to help victims of clergy sexual abuse heal, and identified financial reparations and sanctions for abusers and their enablers as essential remedies.

The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors focused on the issue of reparations in its second annual report. It’s an often sensitive topic for the church, given the financial, reputational and legal implications it imposes on the hierarchy.

The report, compiled with input from dozens of survivors, said monetary settlements were necessary to provide victims with needed therapy and other assistance to help them recover from the trauma of their abuse.

But it said the church owed a debt far greater to victims, the broade

See Full Page