PCCP began designing these programs in January 2024, starting with pre-secondary and secondary education. The approach used – and still in force – combines, on the one hand, co-design with a wide range of key actors in each apostolic field within each Jesuit Conference and each network, and, on the other hand, the integration of scientific research in the field (prevention and response to abuse) with Ignatian spirituality. This PCCP Ignatian training program has already been the subject of a pilot project in the six Jesuit Conferences and within Faith and Joyinvolving around 850 participants. Only Path 1 (out of a total of three) has been implemented to date, and the quantitative and qualitative data collected shows very positive impacts, including changes in cognition, motivation and, above all, social relationships.
Joint design of Pathways 2 and 3 is already underway, and Pathway 2 – focused on effective interventions, again grounded in both science and Ignatian spirituality – will be launched in the coming months. At the same time, the PCCP is developing a training program for Jesuits in matters of protection, in a broader framework: promoting a culture of protection based on quality human relations in all communities and institutions. This program offers a universal study plan covering key themes at each stage of formation, from the pre-novitiate to the third year. By the end of 2026, the program for the novitiate phase will be completed.
The underlying principle of the PCCP and its training programs is that policies and protocols will always be necessary and must be regularly updated to respond to a changing reality, both socially and within each institution. However, since its creation, the PCCP has assumed that policies and protocols alone are not enough to create a new relational culture capable of preventing all forms of abuse. Cultural change requires processes that mobilize the entire community and train all members of an institution or group in ways of relating that, in themselves, prevent different types of abuse. This involves people in a wide variety of roles and responsibilities.
