Bishop Francisco Javier Acero calls on the Church to reject clericalism and careerism, urging empathy and reform in handling abuse victims.
Newsroom (26/03/2026 Gaudium Press ) In the midst of the Catholic Church’s ongoing effort to confront and prevent sexual abuse, Auxiliary Bishop Francisco Javier Acero of the Primatial Archdiocese of Mexico has issued a powerful appeal for deep empathy, humility, and reform. Speaking to ACI Prensa, Acero emphasized that meaningful prevention begins only when victims are truly heard—without bias, pride, or self-interest clouding that encounter.
“We cannot engage in prevention if we are not capable of listening with empathy and without prejudice,” he stated, underscoring the sacred duty to stand “with the weakest and most vulnerable … the victims.”
For Acero, the act of listening is far from passive. It is, he said, an intentional engagement—directing “all our faculties toward grasping, attending to, and interpreting” the voice and body language of those wounded by abuse. Finding the meaning behind their pain, he explained, requires putting oneself “in their shoes,” recognizing that behind each word lies a deep, lifelong wound.
Confronting the Shadows of Clericalism and Careerism
The auxiliary bishop did not shy away from identifying the cultural and structural obstacles within the Church that allow abuse to persist. Central among them, he said, are “clericalism” and “careerism”—forces that distort the Church’s mission and obstruct its capacity for compassion.
“There is a hidden clericalism among the laity that does great harm,” Acero noted, describing it as a mindset that isolates clergy from the faithful and stifles holiness. Within certain Church structures, he added, an “exacerbated clericalism” romanticizes the past, turning the Church into “a museum” rather than a living body rooted in the Gospel and attentive to suffering humanity.
Citing Pope Francis, Acero warned against a “spiritual worldliness” marked by vanity, self-promotion, and the pursuit of applause. When Church service becomes entangled with such worldly drives, he said, leaders risk becoming “bureaucrats of the altar” instead of “servants of charity.”
The Challenge of Discernment and Trust
Addressing the challenge of discernment in cases of abuse, Bishop Acero stressed that the pain expressed by a victim must be believed from the very first moment. He described this pain as “a wound that is sensed and doesn’t require verification,” a testimony that reveals itself when one listens attentively.
Systematic distrust, he warned, stems from “a false sense of fatherhood and a flawed understanding of what the Church is.” In today’s digital age—where information abounds and illusions spread easily—Acero cautioned against the growing tendency to accept superficial judgments and online rumors in place of true understanding. “We remain at the level of headlines,” he said, “and are increasingly incapable of reaching the underlying essence of people and issues.”
Clerical ambition and suspicion, he continued, often intertwine to form a “world of complicity and covering up cases.” Such behavior, in his view, corrupts the Church’s core mission—the proclamation of the Good News—by silencing or ignoring allegations that are inconvenient to those in power.
Returning to the Heart of the Gospel
When asked how clergy can ensure victims receive genuine care, Bishop Acero pointed to a pastoral model grounded in compassion, prayer, and solidarity. True support, he said, comes when victims “feel supported by God in prayer, by a person who assists him in spiritual direction, and by a group of brothers who look out for and protect him.”
Real courage, Acero added, flows not from personal strength or reputation but from divine grace. “Valor and courage don’t come from human gifts; the momentum comes from within the Spirit,” he said. Only the Holy Spirit, he affirmed, can restore harmony to hearts broken by sin and suffering.
Ultimately, Bishop Acero believes the solution lies in recentering the Church on the person of Jesus Christ. When the Church lives in that alignment, he said, it avoids the urge to polarize or evade responsibility. “When we are centered on Jesus,” he concluded, “we go through life without getting caught up in dynamics that seek to deny the harm we have caused or our inability to empathize with those who suffer abuse.”
- Raju Hasmukh with files from CNA
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