Representatives from 40 Protestant churches are gathering at a conference in Warsaw to work on protection strategies, promote dialogue within the Protestant community, and support churches that have had little experience with this issue. The Communion of Protestant Churches Council recently adopted a statement calling on all member churches to give high priority to protection against sexualised violence and expressing regret for past wrongs. It supports Resolution 2533 of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which calls for the comprehensive recognition, investigation, and redress of all forms of abuse in state, private, and church institutions across Europe. The conference is being organised in cooperation with the Swiss Guido Fluri Foundation, which launched the European “Justice Initiative” and successfully lobbied the Council of Europe for Resolution 2533 in 2024. The Communion of Protestant Churches in Europe comprises almost 100 member churches representing around 40 million Protestants in Europe. Speaking during a press conference on 19 June, Rev. Rita Famos, Communion of Protestant Churches in Europe president, and president of the Protestant Church in Switzerland, underscored that safeguarding the most vulnerable is everyone’s responsibility. “Europe must live up to its values when it comes to dealing with vulnerable people,” she said. Guido Fluri, founder of the Guido Fluri Foundation, said: “The consequences of abuse are devastating and they last a lifetime.” Since 2010, Fluri has supported efforts towards the historical investigation of child abuse in Switzerland. “The church did not talk about it. The state did not talk about it. Society did not talk about it,” he said. Dorothee Wüst, president of the Evangelical Church in the Palatinate, said that safeguarding is just the beginning. “But in my experience it does not end there and it should not end there,” she said. “We have to concentrate on the survivors.” It’s an attitude that is not focused on the scandals but focused on human beings, Wüst added. “Trust is destroyed and it will grow not very fast.” Famos noted that the credibility of the church is only given when we don’t protect the church but protect the survivors or the victims. “We gain back the credibility when we protect our members that suffered,” she said. “I think that’s important to learn, and sometimes we need pressure from outside.” | 
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