Pope Francis issues groundbreaking law requiring priests, nuns to report sex abuse, cover-up

[CatWoman]

Source: NBC News

May 9, 2019, 6:52 AM EDT

By Associated Press

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis issued a groundbreaking law Thursday requiring all Catholic priests and nuns around the world to report clergy sexual abuse and cover-up by their superiors to church authorities, in an important new effort to hold the Catholic hierarchy accountable for failing to protect their flocks.

The new church law provides whistle-blower protections for anyone making a report and requires all dioceses around the world to have a system in place to receive the claims confidentially. And it outlines procedures for conducting preliminary investigations when the accused is a bishop, cardinal or religious superior.


It's the latest effort by Francis to respond to the global eruption of the sex abuse and cover-up scandal that has devastated the credibility of the Catholic hierarchy and his own papacy. And it provides a new legal framework for U.S. bishops to use as they prepare to adopt accountability measures next month to respond to the scandal there.

"We have said for years that priests must conform to certain strict rules, so why shouldn't bishops and others in the hierarchy do the same?" said Cardinal Marc Ouellet, head of the Vatican office for bishops. "It's not just a law, but a profound responsibility."


Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/pope-francis-issues-groundbreaking-law-requiring-priests-nuns-report-sex-n1003651?cid=sm_npd_nn_fb_ma&fbclid=IwAR0TxssbBgCwH2vp9i6IuKwRW3_0JaLhndJ64nNmgMZnGqKEGgiurkHRS68

[mahatmakanejeeves]

1. to church authorities. NT

[Pale Blue Dot]

2. Yep. This is nothing.

It's being reported as this major change when it actually changes nothing.

[SunSeeker]

4. Yep. What part of "child rape is a crime" do they not get?

[SunSeeker]

3. Come on, Pope, make them report it to the POLICE, so something gets done about it.

[pnwmom]

5. That makes sense in a country like the US. It makes less sense in a country

where the Church is illegal or persecuted -- where there is no freedom of religion.

China, for example. There are unknown numbers of Catholics in an "underground" Church.

https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2019/03/21/risks-catholic-church-china-are-real-church-ready-face-them

[SunSeeker]

6. I have no problem with an exception where calling authorities will endanger the child.

The vast majority of cases would not need to resort to that exception. This is all about protecting children.

[pnwmom]

7. It isn't a question so much of endangering a particular child, as much of endangering

a whole Catholic family, and any other families they might name to authorities, and the nuns and priests themselves.

What you are saying is perfectly true in the US or any country where there is freedom of religion. It's not true for millions of other Catholics.

[SunSeeker]

8. Fine, create an exception to protect people. No reason to not require it in the rest of the world.

Child rape is a heinous crime and should be treated as such, not a mere employee indiscretion, like tardiness.

[pnwmom]

9. Way back in the 80's, Seattle's Archbishop Hunthausen led the way.

He required all cases to be reported to the authorities.

Then Joseph Ratzinger, later to become Pope Benedict, got Hunthausen basically demoted. (He kept his title but someone else got his "authorities."

Catholic bishops in the U.S. and other democracies should have followed Hunthausen's lead, and Pope Francis should direct them to do so. It sounds like he has. From the article:

The law doesn't require them to report to police. The Vatican has long argued that doing so could endanger the church in places where Catholics are a persecuted minority. But it does for the first time put into universal church law that they must obey civil reporting requirements where they live, and that their obligation to report to the church in no way interferes with that.

If it is implemented fully, the Vatican could well see an avalanche of abuse and cover-up reports in the coming years. Since the law is procedural and not criminal in nature, it can be applied retroactively, meaning priests and nuns are now required to report even old cases of sexual wrongdoing and cover-ups — and enjoy whistleblower protections for doing so.

[SunSeeker]

10. Obeying "civil reporting requirements" is very different from requiring reporting to police.

Ratzinger has a long, sordid history.