Vatican establishes new rules for pedophilia cases
09 Jan 2002
Vatican establishes new rules for pedophilia cases
By FRANCES D'EMILIO
Jan. 8, 2002 | VATICAN CITY (AP) --
The Vatican has come up with new guidelines for the Roman Catholic Church to
handle pedophilia accusations against priests, ordering church officials
worldwide to inform it swiftly of such cases and declaring them subject to
secrecy.
Promoted by the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the rules
were approved by Pope John Paul II, who in the past has expressed solidarity
with the victims of sexual abuse by clergy.
The guidelines, which are apparently aimed at centralizing Vatican control over
such cases, are intended for use by Catholic dioceses and religious
institutions and do not apply to government inquiries or prosecutions.
Written in Latin and prepared several months ago, the church rules were quietly
published in the Holy See's official gazette. They surfaced Tuesday in the
newly printed 2001 yearbook of Vatican documents.
Pedophilia cases have been a major headache for the Catholic church. Besides
the sting of moral scandal, dioceses in the United States and other countries
have had to deal with expensive claims for financial damages.
The new guidelines came as a letter by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, a close aide
of John Paul and the guardian of doctrinal orthodoxy.
He wrote that pedophile cases were subject to pontifical secrecy. Only priests
should handle such cases, including those serving as judges, prosecutor or
defense advocate in church tribunals.
He also said victims must make their accusations within 10 years after turning
18.
The Vatican urged local church officials to act swiftly where there is "at
least probable knowledge of a grave crime."
The letter didn't spell out what sanctions could be taken against priests
suspected or proven of being pedophiles, but their removal from the clerical
ranks is a possibility.
In 1994, at the request of U.S. church officials, the Vatican approved policy
for handling pedophilia cases in the United States. The 2001 policy
"incorporates the major points" of the American policy, said a spokesman for
the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Monsignor Francis Maniscalco.
Any text written by other authors which may be quoted in part or in full
within this coverage of this issue is provided according to U. S. Code
Title 17 "Fair Use" dictates which may be reviewed at
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html If you're an author
of an article and do not wish to allow it to be mirrored or otherwise
provided on The Skeptic Tank web site, let us know and it will be
removed fairly promptly.
Return to The Skeptic Tank's main Index page.
The views and opinions stated within this web page are those of the
author or authors which wrote them and may not reflect the views and
opinions of the ISP or account user which hosts the web page. The
opinions may or may not be those of the Chairman of The Skeptic Tank.