Pope Francis has established a task force “in order to assist the Episcopal Conferences in the preparation and updating of guidelines for the protection of minors.”

The intention to form such a group had already been announced by the Pope at last year’s Meeting for the Protection of Minors in the Church, which ran from February 21-24, 2019. One year later, after the details of the project had been worked out, Pope Francis has made the plan a reality.

In a statement released on February 28, the Holy See Press Office explained that the task force will be supervised by Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, the Substitute for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State.

The other members of the organizing Committee for last year’s Meeting were: Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Bombay; Cardinal Blase Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago; Arch-bishop Charles Scicluna, Arch-bishop of Malta and Deputy Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; and Jesuit Father Hans Zollner, Dean of the Institute of Psycho-logy of the Pontifical Gregorian University and member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.