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PDF versionVatican set to issue changes in sex abuse rules
by John L Allen Jr on Jul. 06, 2010
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Rome
In the latest chapter of the Vatican’s attempt to come to grips with the sexual abuse crisis, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is expected to release a set of changes to the church’s rules for meting out ecclesiastical discipline against abuser priests sometime in the next few days.
Vatican sources caution, however, that the revisions are largely a matter of consolidating existing practice, rather than a dramatic new approach to how sex abuse cases are handled.
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There has been one update to this story: Vatican to heighten women's ordination sin level
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Sources also stress that the revisions affect only the internal ecclesiastical status of an accused priest. In a separate set of guidelines published in April, the Vatican said that civil law regarding reporting crimes of sexual abuse of a minor to the police and other authorities should always be followed.
The church’s current law in sex abuse cases was laid out in a 2001 document, known as a motu proprio, meaning under the pope’s personal authority, from Pope John Paul II, titled Sacramentorum sanctitatis tutela. Sources say the new revisions will codify exceptions to that motu proprio secured by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI, in February 2003.
Those exceptions, known as “special faculties,” generally had the effect of streamlining church procedures for weeding abusers out of the priesthood.
Yet sources say the revisions also contain two new wrinkles: They extend the statute of limitations in canon law, known as prescription, for bringing a charge of sexual abuse of a minor from ten years from the victim’s eighteenth birthday to twenty. For the first time, the revisions also identify child pornography as a “grave offense” subject to the doctrinal congregation.
In practice, the extension of the statute of limitations is not likely to have a dramatic effect, given that the doctrinal congregation already has authority to set it aside on a case-by-case basis. To date they’ve done so in the bulk of cases they’ve faced.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is also said to be working on a separate document, styled more as “guidance” rather than binding law, which will address how bishops and bishops’ conferences around the world can better coordinate the various directives on sexual abuse issued by national conferences of bishops.
The lack of a uniform global policy on abuse has long been a central bone of contention for critics, who point to episodes in the United States, for example, where foreign priests accused of abuse returned to their home countries and escaped the tough “one strike” policy of the American church.
Sources say that while the revisions to the motu proprio are ready, the guidance for bishops’ conferences is still under consideration and will not appear in the near future.
Sources told NCR that there are no present plans for a press conference or briefing by Cardinal William Levada, the American who heads the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, or other officials of the congregation, when the revisions are published.
Vatican insiders have long pointed to the special faculties as an example of Ratzinger’s commitment to resolving the sexual abuse crisis.
When John Paul’s motu proprio was issued in 2001, it generated concern among some bishops and canon lawyers, especially in the United States, who read it to mean that virtually every charge of sexual abuse had to be handled through a canonical trial, which many regarded as cumbersome, expensive, and uncertain. The norms also required that the key personnel in those trials be priests, even though many of the church’s canonists in America are laity. The statue of limitations in canon law also seemed to bar action in many cases.
That criticism came to a head in early 2003, when the promoter of justice in the doctrinal congregation, effectively its chief prosecutor, Maltese Monsignor Charles Scicluna, was set to travel to the United States to brief American canonists on how the norms laid out in Sacramentorum sanctitatis tutela were to be followed. Just ahead of Scicluna’s departure, Ratzinger secured a set of special faculties from John Paul II intended to address the most serious concerns about the motu proprio.
In addition to permission to waive the statute of limitations, the special faculties also:
• Allows one judge on a church tribunal to be a lay person, and eliminates the requirement of a doctorate in canon law;
• Allows for by-passing trials in especially grave cases, removing abuser priests on the basis of a decree;
• Gives the doctrinal congregation power to “sanate” the acts of lower courts, meaning to clean up any procedural irregularities;
• Establishes that an appeal in abuse cases goes to the doctrinal congregation rather than the Signatura, the Vatican’s highest court.
Those faculties have been in force since 2003, though with the status of exceptions to church law. The coming revisions are expected to make the substance of most of these points formally a part of the law.
NAME THAT TUNE: "Second
NAME THAT TUNE:
"Second verse, same as the FIRST...
A little bit LOUDER and a little bit WORSE."
"...the revisions are largely a matter of consolidating existing practice, rather than a dramatic new approach to how sex abuse cases are handled."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUb3NWp942s
Action? To many of us, it
Action? To many of us, it sounds like a rehash of the same, old rhetoric. Big Deal! What would be nice would be to have the Vatican open the records of the CDF's Priests/Abusers for the world to see how their abuses were covered up, and which high-hatted clerics covered them up. Moving up the Church's Statue of Limitations to report abuse from age 18-20 is also ridiculous, since most Survivors don't report their abuse until they are in their mid 30's or 40's. It has been well established that the Church had laws for covering abuses by Pedophile Priests/Nuns/Monks, etc., on the books (of Canon Law) since 1922, but they were conveniently not followed. The Pope has finally thrown us a worm, and the gullible public will gratefully swallow it hook, line and sinker, just because most of us truly want to believe that the Pope is finally doing something! Too little, too late! Removing Cardinal Law, Cardinal Mahoney and Cardinal Brady would be a good start, but I doubt if we'll see anything of substance happen in that area for the next 100 years. In fact, in years to come, I wouldn't be too surprised if somehow they manage to get canonized for their contribution in helping to control the Priest Pedophilia Scandal! Hide and watch. Before the "Great Millstone" of the Book of Revelations of St. John the Divine (chapter 18) falls upon the Church, it could happen!
James Bennett, famed Catholic
James Bennett, famed Catholic power lawyer and presidential counsel in Washington, was on EWTN this Sunday. He thinks the Vatican is out of touch with reality and the bishops have lost their moral authority. He said it was looking increasingly more likely the pope, cardinals, and bishops will be forced to be deposed by lawyers for the plaintiffs (sexual abuse victims and families).
He isn't buying the Vatican's argument that priests and bishops are NOT employees of the Vatican. These new procedures from the Vatican announced today are basically rehashing the same old, same old. It look like a hastily contrived trip into Alice's Wonderland where the Queen of Spades rules without question regardless of what is happening around her.
Thanks so much for that info.
Thanks so much for that info. It's actually Robert Bennett. I'm listening to it right now. I'm a bit surprised that EWTN had him on. Raymond Arroyo's non-response to the assertion that the Vatican had lost its moral authority is not surprising, though.
Thanks. Right you are,
Thanks. Right you are, "Robert" Bennett.
Just saying that if you
Just saying that if you bothered to read the article the statute of limitations was actually changed from 28 to 38. It was changed from 10 years after a victim's 18th birthday to 20 years after.
Let me see if I understand
Let me see if I understand correctly: 1)In a few days some revisions w/be made to the rules for handling sexual abuse by clerics (priests/bishops) 2)There is really nothing new, only a few tweaks. In addition some "faculties" already in force since 2003 as exceptions to church law will probably become law. 3)There will be no press conference nor any kind of "official" announcement; info must be obtained from "sources". 4)The Congregation for Doctrine of the Faith is working on a separate document, but this also will not result in any kind of real change. It'll only become "guidance" to obtain a more uniform global approach to already in-place laws. 5)Nothing appears to be on the church-universal docket regarding law-evasion, coverup, heavy-handed tactics with regard to victims, misplaced loyalties and pastoral care in men chosen as shepherds of localities, especially to the "least of these of these" - children. -----Again! When, oh when will Bishops of their own volition come forward in accountability? When, oh when will Bishops stop passing the buck calling the ecclesiastical crisis we face by its proper name: "a scandal or crisis of power" rather than the sex abuse scandal or crisis? Come Holy Spirit....
Found in the Italian
Found in the Italian newspaper Il Foglio
What about the bishops?
What about the bishops?
I'm sorry, but any 'new
I'm sorry, but any 'new provision' that does not include addressing bishops who knowingly moved around abuser priests or re-vicitimized victims to protect the church is pure window dressing. I will never believe the Vatican is committed to true change until that happens.
Good News about a good step.
Good News about a good step. The article leaves me with the impression that this is a tidying up of legal loose strings. The anticipated document to the bishops' conferences will be good in that anything that gets people to talk with each other is a good thing. Talking in sunshine is a good remedy that keeps secrets from developing.
Who cares about the bishops
Who cares about the bishops conferences? A bunch of bishops chattering like a bunch of old ladies about child abuse is not what the Vatican should be focusing on.
The same old medieval culture of "the Church of Rome is answerable to force on earth" still reigns in Pope Benedict's court. This new procedure is all about internal ecclesiastical processes and does nothing about punishing the guilty parties, removing errant bishops, establishing guidelines for compensating victims using Vatican resources, and forking over the entire documentary history of child abuse cases brought to this pope's attention and the attention of his predecessors.
The bishop of Rome should not be placed in a position where lawyers the world over have to pry open the papal archives through efforts directed via international tribunals and US courts with Benedict looking more and more each day like a Richard Nixon under siege. "I tell you I'm not a crook", etc.
As the church continues the
As the church continues the struggle to "come to grips with the sex abuse crisis," it would be wise to consult with the Society of St. Pius X, the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, the Maronites and any others whose priests are not known to have engaged in such sinful, immoral and illegal conduct, at least so far. Updating Canon Law is fine and necessary I suppose, but how better it would be to understand how to avoid the plague in the first place. I suspect the groups here named would be more than happy to share information and guidance on how they avoided the pitfals that liberal Latins fell into so willingly and arrogantly.
Don't speak too soon. If
Don't speak too soon. If there's a stench in the Latin camp, there's a good chance, the SSPX, the Maronites and others have plenty of soiled laundry in need of cleansing as well. Nobody, is above reproach or suspicion. If the Pope's own household can be a cesspool of sin, anyone's house can be.13
"Nobody, is above reproach or
"Nobody, is above reproach or suspicion." - including You... That about your closet?
As, I said "NOBODY". Then
As, I said "NOBODY". Then again, my closet isn't as important as the pope's or the closet of his toadies in scarlet and purple. They have set themselves up as icons of righteousness and virtue. More is and should be expected of them.
"...it would be wise to
"...it would be wise to consult with the Society of St. Pius X, the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, the Maronites and any others whose priests are not known to have engaged in such sinful, immoral and illegal conduct, at least so far."
Hey ANONYMOUS, I guess you haven't typed any of these groups into the search box at:
http://www.bishop-accountability.org/
Actually, I have.
Actually, I have.
I can't remember where Jesus'
I can't remember where Jesus' library was at, like the one the pope has in the Vatican. I can't remember, either, where Jesus went for a vacation; a mountainside or desert, perhaps. I think I remember one of his motu proprio that streamlined church procedures, somewhere in Matthew 25, I think. And I just don't recall Jesus wearing any hats. Or capes, chausables, red shoes. Getting old is tough as I think I'm losing my memory.
What an incredibly stupid and
What an incredibly stupid and insipid comment. So you're saying Jesus would be Amish right now? Read a freaking book already and get off the computer.
This is a largely artificial
This is a largely artificial response by the Vatican. No where does it communicate the removal and decommissioning of bishops and cardinals who also may have been abusers of children. This is much too little and much too late, as usual. The same tempo continues and as long as this weak response remains, it simply means very little has changed in the Vatican culture that has failed to address some significant issues regarding the roles that leaders and power holders in the Church themselves have played in the child sexual abuse crisis. They just don't get it. Perhaps this is why so many millions of Catholics want to see women ordained to the priesthood and episcopate. It would bring about a healthy and as yet unaddressed set of issues about the misuse and abuse of power in the all male hierarchy and priesthood. Until this change comes, very little will actually change in regards to the remedy for stopping the sexual abuse of children. I would add that the removal of the mandatory celibacy requirement for every ordained person is also a necessary step in order to eliminate many sexual abuse issues. The status quo means death to the Catholic Church.
I suspect the urge to tidy up
I suspect the urge to tidy up the Canon Law process is in part an instance of locking the barn after the horse is out.
In the next few weeks or months, Jeff Anderson and his associates will be going into Federal Court in Oregon with a long list of files and documents, as well as Vatican Personnel they wish to examine as part of discovery, in the lawsuit the Supreme Court agreed can go forward, dealing with the employment relationships (as defined by US Labor Law), that attain among Bishops, Priests, and the Vatican Authorities. The Judge will call a pre-trial conference between Plaintiff and Defense Attorneys, the point of which will be to develop a schedule for discovery production. Failure to produce on a voluntary basis could lead to a Subpoena. Failure to respond to a Subpoena can lead to Sanctions. Sanctions over time can lead to being found in contempt of Court, and as in the case of Judith Miller, NY
Times reporter in the Scooter Libby-Valerie Wilson case, we know that failure to produce for Discovery can lead to a stint in Jail until the Contempt of Court is removed through cooperation in Discovery. The Federal Courts really don't care whether or not you have tried to patch up Canon Law, it just is irrelevant in Federal District Court. I suspect that Oregon and Belgium is where "things will happen" over the next few months or year.
"The lack of a uniform global
"The lack of a uniform global policy" as noted above is responsible for many other lacks that move the Church toward extinction. There is no "uniform global' anything or policy. The secrecy, the hoped for but non-existent policy of total loyalty and obedience to the Vatican, the vastly different cultures that the Church would include in its 'EMPIRE" and much, much more are mere examples of the underlying mentality of those who would rule. What used to be 'the Church' cannot exist in the present form as so well indicated in this essay.
The 'inquisition' of American Sisters (Nuns was the old word for 'cloistered sisters'), the 'new' missal with its language and meanings changed unreviewed by real American Catholics, the obvious dumping of Vatican II and His Holiness Pope John Paul II, the desire for total power, all point to the retardation of the corporate intelligence in Rome. God created humankind with intelligence, conscience and free will (I believe). Every administrative act of the Vatican seems designed to sin against this basic belief.
When great men ruled the church, a microcosm of the present monster, good things, prayerful things, things of the people and of the Faith were paramount. With their limited geography and knowledge of languages and cultures, their far from 'global' work was open, publicly discussed, unburdened by ignorance of all they had not touched, kept them for a time clear of the thirst for power, the greed for prestige that rule Rome today They even had a Christlike sense of the voice of the people, what the details of their action, their rule might mean to the people. Stand tall U. S. Bishops, it's your nation and we would, if you could, make the term "American Catholics" have real meaning, real TRUTH.
Right idea: wrong target -
Right idea: wrong target - what needs tidying up is not some document or other, some law or exception, but the Church itself! Celibate men with various levels of autocratic power in a homosocial culture with a nepotistic advancement structure - sounds like a recipe for cover-ups!
Until the Catholic Church addresses its untenable adhesion to hierarchical authority nothing will change. But perhaps that religion's current plight is so much the better for faith!
The traditional orders are
The traditional orders are the answer. Holy priests are the answer. Prudent canon law is the means to an end.
The wacko liberals have loosed a whirl-wind, and Benedict and others are the ones to stoop and pick up the mess.
You haven't heard apparently,
You haven't heard apparently, "traditional orders", a la the Jesuits in Germany for example, have as big a problem as the diocesan clergy. Benedict isn't going to be doing anything other than spending the rest of his days making apologies and fighting court orders and judgments. He'll be history before he can "pick up the mess" he and his predecessor produced.
We have, indeed, a very
We have, indeed, a very greedy sinful leadership that seeks to establish power over the people of God rather than serve them. I no longer pay much attention to their delusions of being teachers. They are truly politicians struggling to ever survive. They are demonstrating a lose of contact with reality and with the People of God. WHAT now! The men who claim to be our leaders are only projecting a deadening influence into the world! I am glad not to be in their shoes when there is a judgement! Holy, honest men-- a fixed delusion!
R. Dennis Porch, MD
The professional, full-time,
The professional, full-time, clerical caste of sacerdotal officeholders have had their day. The People of God are able to perform these functions themselves. All they have to do is break up the priesthood into separate ministries. Pastoral counseling and preaching can be performed by a variety of expertly trained lay , mental health professionals trained in moral theology and psychology. Canon law can be turned over to civil lawyers. Many are already functioning in both fields.
There are thousands of married deacons who could be raised to the priesthood to fill in any immediate personnel gaps as the transition to a ministry of multiple charismatic offices is established. As for performing sacred rites and celebrating the liturgy,there isn't a thing the clergy do in Church today that a 15 year old boy or girl couldn't do with a few weeks or months of training.
From what seminary did Peter, Paul, Titus, Timothy, and Clement graduate?
No mention is ever made about
No mention is ever made about all the thousands of priests that have left the ministry without having to register as sex offenders. When are the bishops going to admit that to allow this to continue they are still committing a crime against the unsuspecting public. shifting these sex abusers from the Catholic church to the public at large. Let's face it, the bishops fail to be held accountable. They are sill criminally responsible for the actions of these sex abusers. Wake up U.S. Justice department.
I work in South Africa,
I work in South Africa, dealing with cases of sexual abuse of minors. This is a messy business that has hurt the whole church and I think we need to commend any steps forward to make process and proceedure clearer and more acccountable. No law, process or apology even will make up for the harm caused. The only way forward is a personal and difficult choice to be faithful to Jesus and to continue to struggle with and against the sinfulness of the Church. I work with wonderful women and men (Bishops included!) doing incredible work with the marginalised, the poor and the vulnerable. I am grateful for any help and guidance offered. Our country has benefitted from these proceedures as they have made the implementation of our own protocol much clearer and more just. If we all face this collosal failure of leadership in the church that has damaged people and choose that it doesn't happen now or again, we are doing the Gospel. The CDF's revisions might be helping us to do that.
Future headline newspaper
Future headline newspaper stories.
Another Diocesan Bishop Being Sued
Lawyer claims diocesan Bishop failed to take measures to see that priest removed from church ministry was not a threat to unsuspecting children.
Get ready for anther round of financial stettlements.
Honor the Bible!!! Allow
Honor the Bible!!!
Allow priests to marry. An end to mandatory celibacy will be a good first step in regaining lost trust in the Church. Celibacy has been identified as a reason for:
1- 22-45% of the clergy (priests, bishops, and those in higher positions) having homosexual orientations.
2- priests having "lapses", where they are sexually active with women OR with men, even if a scant 4-6% of priests have molested children.
3- so many priests have problems with alcohol and even abusing drugs.
4- so many priests lack emotional growth, and do not know how to handle NOT getting their way.
5- so many priests have issues with keeping secrets - those that live in glass houses cannot throw stones. Thus, I wonder how many secrets are being kept about the bishops that kept the priest's secrets.
It is NOT healthy. Honor the Bible and allow priests to marry. The crusty old men can get together at their next bishop's meetings this fall, and just decide to change it.
Celibacy is only a *practice* and it COULD be easily changed today. The bishops have already lost their moral authority (and they are losing the public's respect, daily) so the minute they see the handwriting on the wall, they can change the man=made 12th century practice of celibacy and give women their rightful ROLE in the church, as the wife of a clergyman.
Any member of the clergy: priest, bishop or the pope, has a God-given right to marry, at any time in his life. As examples, I offer Bible verses specific to men in the ministry, and Tradition. St. Patrick was the grandson of a Catholic priest and the son of a Catholic deacon.
I don't get why so many
I don't get why so many people believe lifting the celibacy requirement will be the silver bullet. I suppose there are no married people who have had lapses? (Isn't that, by definition, called adultery?) There are no married folks with homosexual orientations? (What about the Episcopal bishop of New Hampshire?) I suppose the vast majority of people in drug and alcohol programs are celibate? There are certainly no selfish people who are married! (Then why the huge percentage of divorces, that outnumber those who leave priestly ministry?) And non-celibates never engage in secrets or cover-ups! (Yes, they are quick to bring to light incestuous abuse, advertise the abortion, turn in their family members who have committed crimes, etc.)
Simply put, this whole mess is a little bit more complicated than the celibacy issue, or the women's ordination issue. And while the saints mentioned may not have gone to a seminary, they were schooled in the faith and were called by the Church to leadership. By the way, education was done a little different way back then and, if you remember, it was the Church that founded the university system as we know it today. Or should we get rid of our colleges and universities also?
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