Referring to canonical provisions governing authority in Consecrated Life, Dr. Giampietro said superiors are called to exercise authority as a service that respects the human person, promotes voluntary obedience, and listens to members entrusted to their care.
She noted that Canon 618, Canon 619, and Canon 630 provide safeguards that protect the conditions necessary for a vocation to remain genuinely free.
“These are not abstract refinements. They protect the conditions in which a vocation can remain genuinely free,” she said.
Dr. Giampietro emphasized that safeguarding also requires structures that ensure authority remains accountable.
“Authority is protected not when it is made unreachable, but when the law ensures that it remains answerable to the purpose for which it was entrusted,” she said.
She added that safeguarding mechanisms should ensure that reporting channels are not only established but also accessible, allowing concerns to be raised without fear and ensuring that responsibilities are not concentrated in one person.
According to Dr. Giampietro, a safeguarding culture requires clear structures that define responsibilities, including how reports are received, how persons are accompanied, how investigations are conducted, and how decisions are made.
She further stressed that safeguarding requires both local responsibility and verification, noting that subsidiarity should not become isolated.
“Subsidiarity is not the absence of verification. It is the responsibility assigned to the appropriate level, together with the support and accountability needed for that responsibility to be fulfilled,” she said.
Dr. Giampietro also highlighted the need for clarity when Catholic Sisters serve in institutions involving different ecclesial authorities, saying that co-responsibility should never become divided responsibility.