Pope abolishes 'pontifical secrecy' for sex abuse investigations

[webfact]

Pope abolishes 'pontifical secrecy' for sex abuse investigations

By Philip Pullella

 

FILE PHOTO: Pope Francis attends the weekly general audience at the Vatican, June 19, 2019. REUTERS/Yara Nardi/File Photo

 

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Tuesday announced sweeping changes to the way the Roman Catholic Church deals with cases of sexual abuse of minors, abolishing the rule of "pontifical secrecy" that previously covered them.

 

Advocates for the victims of a sex abuse scandal that has rocked the church for nearly two decades applauded the move as being long overdue but said it had to be applied broadly.

 

Two documents issued by the pope back practices that have been in place in some countries, particularly the United States, such as reporting suspicion of sex abuse to civil authorities where required by law.

 

The documents, which put the practices into universal Church law, also forbid imposing an obligation of silence on those who report sex abuse or allege they have been a victim.

 

"This is an epochal decision," Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta and the Vatican's most experienced sex abuse investigator, told Vatican Radio.

 

The lifting of "pontifical secrecy" in sex abuse investigations was a key demand by Church leaders, including Scicluna and German Cardinal Reinhard Marx, at a summit on sexual abuse held at the Vatican in February.

 

They argued that secrecy in cases of sexual abuse of minors was outdated and some Church officials were hiding behind it instead of cooperating with authorities.

 

Pope Francis on Tuesday announced sweeping changes to the way the Roman Catholic Church deals with cases of sexual abuse of minors, abolishing the rule of "pontifical secrecy" that previously covered them. Francesca Lynagh reports.

 

LOWER LEVEL OF CONFIDENTIALITY

The new rules effectively strip internal Church proceedings, evidence and tribunal decisions of the secrecy protection they previously enjoyed.

 

This, victims groups have said, will allow for more transparency and sharing of information with authorities while keeping a lower level of confidentiality similar to civil legal structures.

 

Marie Collins, who was abused by a priest in her native Ireland as a girl and resigned in frustration from a papal commission on abuse because of what she saw as Vatican resistance, Tweeted that the changes were "Excellent news ... at last a real and positive change."

 

Anne Barrett-Doyle, co-director of the U.S. based abuse documentation group BishopAccountability.org, said the pope had taken "an overdue and desperately needed step" but that its impact will be determined by how broadly it is applied.

 

Scicluna said the new provisions open up ways to communicate with victims and cooperate with the state.

 

"Certain jurisdictions would have easily quoted the pontifical secret ... to say that they could not, and that they were not, authorized to share information with either state authorities or the victims," Scicluna said.

 

"Now that impediment, we might call it that way, has been lifted, and the pontifical secret is no more an excuse," he said.

 

One of the documents also raises to 18 or under from 14 or under the age that pictures of individuals can be considered child pornography "for purposes of sexual gratification, by whatever means or using whatever technology".

 

Last year, a Vatican court sentenced a Catholic priest to five years in jail for possessing child pornography while he was based in the United States as a diplomat.

 

On Tuesday, the pope accepted the resignation of Archbishop Luigi Ventura, the Holy See's ambassador to France, who has been accused of sexual molestation.

 

The Catholic Church has been hit by scandal involving the sexual abuse of children by priests around the world in the past 20 years. Francis has vowed zero tolerance for offenders but victims of abuse want him to do more and make bishops who allegedly covered up the abuse accountable.

 

(Reporting by Philip Pullella; editing by John Stonestreet and Giles Elgood)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-12-18

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[smedly]

sounds like a "minor" change

[Moonlover]

25 minutes ago, smedly said:

sounds like a "minor" change

 

1 hour ago, webfact said:

Marie Collins, who was abused by a priest in her native Ireland as a girl and resigned in frustration from a papal commission on abuse because of what she saw as Vatican resistance, Tweeted that the changes were "Excellent news ... at last a real and positive change."

 

You're better informed on this topic than Marie Collins are you @smedly

 

[Samui Bodoh]

I believe deeply in the concept of Freedom of Religion and think people should and can worship as they please.

 

That said an organization, any organization, that has sheltered/enabled thousands and thousands and thousands of sex crimes over decades (centuries?!) should not be permitted to function anymore.

 

This idea that the Catholic Church should still be permitted to regulate itself and decide what it will and won't do is ludicrous. There needs to be an international body set up to investigate the greatest criminal sex ring in history.

 

To my Catholic/Christian friends; so much evil has been done in your name, you should be leading the charge for drastic actions, if not total dissolution.

 

Where are your voices?

 

They should be deafening.

 

If you won't cleanse your Church, you bear the sin.

 

 

[potless]

3 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

That said an organization, any organization, that has sheltered/enabled thousands and thousands and thousands of sex crimes over decades (centuries?!) should not be permitted to function anymore.

Undeniably true.

 

3 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

To my Catholic/Christian friends; so much evil has been done in your name, you should be leading the charge for drastic actions, if not total dissolution.

They are in denial. 

[Baerboxer]

5 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

I believe deeply in the concept of Freedom of Religion and think people should and can worship as they please.

 

That said an organization, any organization, that has sheltered/enabled thousands and thousands and thousands of sex crimes over decades (centuries?!) should not be permitted to function anymore.

 

This idea that the Catholic Church should still be permitted to regulate itself and decide what it will and won't do is ludicrous. There needs to be an international body set up to investigate the greatest criminal sex ring in history.

 

To my Catholic/Christian friends; so much evil has been done in your name, you should be leading the charge for drastic actions, if not total dissolution.

 

Where are your voices?

 

They should be deafening.

 

If you won't cleanse your Church, you bear the sin.

 

 

 

Totally agree with your sentiments.

 

The Catholic Church is more than a church/religion though. It is a sovereign state. And a very wealthy one at that; albeit seemingly riddled with corruption.

 

"Although Italian journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi has warned that the Holy See could run out of money by 2023, officials told The Wall Street Journal it has assets worth around £1.5bn – not counting the true value of masterpieces it owns by Michelangelo and Raphael, which used to be listed on the books as worth one lira each. The Journal’s figure may be an underestimate: according to the New Statesman, the Pope is effectively the world’s third largest landowner (behind King Abdullah of Jordan and Queen Elizabeth II) with a global domain of 177 million acres."

 

"Da Vinci Code-style conspiracy theories were revived in October when Vatican police raided the offices of the Secretariat of State, the central governing office of the Catholic Church, and the Financial Information Authority (AIF). Italian news magazine L’Espresso reported that £560m in funds were being used in operations that were not on the Secretariat’s books. It has also reported that the Vatican’s auditor general, a role created by Benedict to combat corruption, believes £435m has been placed into Swiss and Italian accounts with Credit Suisse and suspects that £174m was spent on a luxury apartment near London’s Sloane Square."

 

Source: Supply Management 17/12/2019

 

Hardly the bastion of poverty, humility and charity is it!