NEW: Pope Francis issued a 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.
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 law makes the world's 415,000 Catholic priests and 660,000 religious sisters mandated reporters. That means they are required to inform church authorities when they learn or have"well-founded motives to believe" that a cleric or sister has engaged in sexual abuse of a minor, sexual misconduct with an adult, possession of child pornography — or that a superior has covered up any of those crimes.
The law defines the crimes that must be reported as: performing sexual acts with a minor or vulnerable person; forcing an adult"by violence or threat or through abuse of authority, to perform or submit to sexual acts," and the production, possession or distribution of child pornography. Cover-up is defined as"actions or omissions intended to interfere with or avoid" civil or canonical investigations.
Victims and their advocates have long complained that bishops and religious superiors have escaped justice for having engaged in sexual misconduct themselves, or failed to protect their flocks from predator priests. Bishops and religious superiors are accountable only to the pope, and only a handful have ever been sanctioned or removed for sex abuse or cover-up, and usually only after particularly egregious misbehavior became public.
The law makes clear he can use lay experts to help, a key provision that is already used in many dioceses to give bishops expert advice on handling cases from people with law enforcement or medical backgrounds.
France Dernières Nouvelles, France Actualités
Similar News:Vous pouvez également lire des articles d'actualité similaires à celui-ci que nous avons collectés auprès d'autres sources d'information.
Pope on sensitive trip to Orthodox Bulgaria and North MacedoniaPope Francis starts a trip on Sunday to Bulgaria and North Macedonia where he wi...
Lire la suite »
Pope tends to Orthodox ties, Catholic minorities in BalkansVATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis, who opened 2019 with trips to the Muslim world, is shifting gears to tend to Orthodox relations, with a delicate visit starting Sunday to the Balkan nations of...
Lire la suite »
Pope says emigration, low birth rates have brought 'Ice Curtain' on EuropePope Francis urged European leaders on Sunday to address wealth inequality and l...
Lire la suite »
Pope defends migrants during trip to immigration-adverse BulgariaPope Francis said on Monday the plight of suffering immigrants and refugees was ...
Lire la suite »
Pope, invoking Mother Teresa, encourages North Macedonia's bid to join EUPope Francis on Tuesday implicitly blessed efforts by North Macedonia and other ...
Lire la suite »
Pope says more study needed on role of women deacons in early ChurchPope Francis said on Tuesday more study was needed on the role of women deacons ...
Lire la suite »
Vatican law: Priests, nuns must report sex abuse, cover-upVATICAN CITY (AP) — 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...
Lire la suite »
Vatican law: Priests, nuns must report sex abuse, cover-upNEW: Pope Francis issues law requiring all Catholic priests and nuns around the world to report clergy sexual abuse and cover-ups by their superiors to church authorities.
Lire la suite »