Vatican announces new guidlines to fight child sex abuse

2011-05-17 06:39:14 GMT+7 (ICT)

VATICAN CITY (BNO NEWS) -- The Vatican on Monday announced new guidelines in an effort to fight child sex abuse within the Roman Catholic Church, but critics are arguing that they are not enough.

The letter states that sexual abuse of minors is "not just a canonical delicit but also a crime prosecuted by civil law," adding that "it is important to cooperate with such authority within their responsibilities."

However, victims' groups are criticizing the letter, arguing that the new guidelines do not order priests to report child sex abuse allegations to local authorities, rather deal with the situation internally first.

"The responsibility for dealing with cases of sexual abuse of minors belongs, in the first place, to Bishops or Major Superiors," the letter reads, stating that only if the case is credible, it would be required for the accusation to be reported to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF). The CDF would then "offer direction to assure the appropriate measures are taken."

While critics say the letter only offers suggestions and not regulations, the letter concludes that the Guidelines, which were developed by Episcopal Conferences and written up by the head of the CDF Cardinal William Levada, seek to protect minors and to "help victims in finding assistance and reconciliation," as they would lead to a "common orientation within each Episcopal Conference helping to better harmonize the resources of single Bishops in safeguarding minors."

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2011-05-17

A PR exercise, to little and to late

What a bunch of BS.

Send the perpetrators to Gen Pop - problem solved in 2 minutes.

The easiest way to stop child sex abuse in the Catholic church, any church for that matter, is to only allow adults to attend.

Solves two problems, possibly more.

The guidelines would appear to place the priests of the church above the law compared to the general population of many of the countries where they serve. Wonder why criminal law was not mentioned as well as civil?