The Vatican has finally issued a long-anticipated revision of its 2001 norms for dealing with priests who sexually abuse youngsters, but they fail to address the issues that surround the cover-up of abuse by senior clergy.
Critics have been quick to point out that the revised norms lack mechanisms to hold accountable those bishops or other church officials who have covered up abuse, refused to act on complaints or knowingly reassigned serial abusers. Instead of adopting new and stricter guidelines, the up-dated rules ”“ published on 15 July ”“ are effectively a consolidation of already existing legal measures that have been adopted successively over the course of the past nine years.
There are only two significant new developments. A priest accused of possessing or distributing child pornography (i.e. of children under the age of 14) or of sexually abusing a “developmentally disabled” adult over the age of 18 is to be dealt with just as if he were accused of sexually abusing a minor.
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The Tablet–Newly Released Roman Catholic norms are silent on abuse cover-ups
The Vatican has finally issued a long-anticipated revision of its 2001 norms for dealing with priests who sexually abuse youngsters, but they fail to address the issues that surround the cover-up of abuse by senior clergy.
Critics have been quick to point out that the revised norms lack mechanisms to hold accountable those bishops or other church officials who have covered up abuse, refused to act on complaints or knowingly reassigned serial abusers. Instead of adopting new and stricter guidelines, the up-dated rules ”“ published on 15 July ”“ are effectively a consolidation of already existing legal measures that have been adopted successively over the course of the past nine years.
There are only two significant new developments. A priest accused of possessing or distributing child pornography (i.e. of children under the age of 14) or of sexually abusing a “developmentally disabled” adult over the age of 18 is to be dealt with just as if he were accused of sexually abusing a minor.
Read it all.