In a new document issued on Tuesday, Francis decreed that information in abuse cases must be protected by church leaders to ensure its “security, integrity and confidentiality”.
But he also said the “pontifical secret” code no longer applies to abuse-related accusations, trials and decisions under the Catholic Church’s canon law.
Francis also raised from 14 to 18 the cut-off age below which the Vatican considers pornographic images to be child pornography.
The new laws were issued on Tuesday – Francis’ 83rd birthday – as he struggles to respond to the global explosion of the abuse scandal, his own missteps in dealing with the issue, and demands for greater transparency and accountability from victims, law enforcement and ordinary Catholics alike.
The new norms are the latest amendment to the Catholic Church’s in-house canon law – a parallel legal code that metes out ecclesial justice for crimes against the faith – in this case relating to the sexual abuse of minors or vulnerable people by priests, bishops or cardinals.
In this legal system, the worst punishment a priest can incur is being defrocked, or dismissed from the clerical state.
Pope Benedict XVI had decreed in 2001 that these cases must be dealt with under “pontifical secret”, the highest form of secrecy in the church. The Vatican had long insisted that such confidentiality was necessary to protect the…
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