Vatican Issues New Rules on Pedophile Priests
Philip Pullella
Last Updated: January 09, 2002 12:21 AM ET
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican has quietly issued new rules for Roman
Catholic churches around the world to deal with pedophile priests, saying
they should stand trial in secret ecclesiastical courts.
Pope John Paul and the Vatican issued two documents on the problem in 2001,
but they were not presented at press conferences or made public as is
usually the case for such documents.
Instead, they were published in Latin without any fanfare in the latest
yearly volume of "Acta Apostolicae Sedis," (Acts of the Apostolic See), the
journal of record of the Holy See.
In recent years, the Roman Catholic Church around the world has been rocked
by scandals involving pedophile priests, and the Vatican has been grappling
with how to control the damage.
In his document, known in Latin as a "Motu Proprio" and one of the highest
forms of papal directives, the Pope authorized the Vatican's Congregation
for the Doctrine of the Faith to issue guidelines on how to deal with the
problem.
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, head of the Congregation, which deals with
matters of faith and morals, sent a letter to all Roman Catholic bishops
and heads of religious orders outlining the Vatican's concerns.
"With this letter, we hope that not only will these serious crimes be
avoided, but, above all, that the holiness of the clergy and the faithful
be protected by the necessary sanctions and by the pastoral care offered by
the bishops and others responsible," the letter said.
Ratzinger's letter said that if a local bishop or head of a religious order
became aware of "even a hint" of a case of pedophilia "he must open an
investigation and inform the (Rome) Congregation."
SECRET CHURCH COURT
A local Church tribunal, made up of priests, should hear the case, which
could be referred to the Vatican, but the procedures would be covered by
church secrecy.
The letter made no mention of whether a bishop should inform civil
authorities if a Church court found a priest guilty.
Last September, a French court handed down a three-month suspended jail
term to a Roman Catholic bishop for failing to tell police that a priest in
his diocese had admitted having sexually abused children.
The Congregation, the modern successor of the Inquisition, included acts of
pedophilia by priests as one of the "grave offences" against the Church.
A cover sheet was attached asking the recipients not to divulge the
information contained in the letter, Church sources said. The cover sheet
was not published in the official record.
Pedophilia scandals, particularly in developed countries, have given the
Church a black eye and have cost local dioceses millions of dollars in
legal fees and financial settlements.
In a high-profile case in 2000, a U.S. jury found the Catholic diocese of
Dallas, Texas, had concealed sexual abuse of boys by a priest and awarded
the victims $119.6 million in damages -- the largest award up to then in a
sexual abuse case.
The document established a 10-year statute of limitations, beginning on the
victim's 18th birthday, in cases of pedophilia.
Priests found guilty of pedophilia can be dismissed from the Church and
stripped of their priestly functions.
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