Abuser priests denied secrecy

Pope Francis has revoked an archaic Vatican principle called ‘‘pontifical secrecy’’ in a move which will give police and prosecutors around the world better access to allegations made against paedophile priests.

The Vatican’s rules of confidentiality will no longer apply to accusations involving clergy committing sexual abuse.

The Vatican has been criticised for decades of being overly secretive and failing to cooperate with national authorities investigating thousands of claims of abuse.

Scandals from Australia to Ireland, and the US to Latin America, have led to multiple investigations by civil authorities and have badly damaged the credibility of the Catholic Church.

Pontifical secrecy entailed the protection of sensitive Vatican information, from diplomatic correspondence to the handling of alleged crimes. The Catholic Church had insisted that such confidentiality was essential to protect the public standing of the accused priest, bishop or archbishop, as well as the identity of the victim.

But from now on, it will no longer apply to ‘‘accusations, trials and decisions’’ involving such cases.

The reform was announced by Pope Francis on his 83rd birthday. ‘‘The person who files the report, the person who alleges to have been harmed and the witnesses shall not be bound by any obligation of silence with regard to matters involving the case,’’ the Pope wrote.

‘‘Office confidentiality shall not prevent the fulfilment of the obligations laid down in all places by civil laws, including any reporting obligations, and the execution of enforceable requests of civil judicial authorities.’’

The change was described as an ‘‘epochal decision’’ by Charles Scicluna, the Archbishop of Malta and the Vatican’s chief investigator into sex abuse cases.

‘‘Certain jurisdictions would have easily quoted the pontifical secret ... to say that they could not, and that they were not authorised to, share information with either state authorities or the victims. Now that impediment has been lifted, and the pontifical secret is no more an excuse,’’ he said.

The Church’s legal proceedings will still not be available to the public, but there will

‘‘ . . . that impediment has been lifted, and the pontifical secret is no more an excuse.’’

Charles Scicluna

the Archbishop of Malta

be a higher degree of collaboration with police and prosecutors.

The change announced on Tuesday was welcomed by Marie Collins, an Irish victim of abuse who in 2017 resigned from a papal task force on abuse in protest at its lack of progress. ‘‘At last a real and positive change,’’ she wrote on Twitter.

Juan Carlos Cruz, a prominent Chilean survivor of clergy abuse and an advocate for victims, said: ‘‘The carnival of obscurity is over.’’

The Pope also raised from 14 to 18 the age below which the Vatican considers pornographic images to be child pornography. In addition, he accepted the resignation of Archbishop Luigi Ventura, the Holy See’s ambassador to France, who has been accused of sexual molestation. He has denied the claims. – Telegraph Group

AP Pope Francis celebrates a Mass for the Philippine community of Rome, in St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican last Sunday. This week he overturned ‘‘pontifical secrecy’’. Judicial authorities around the world will now have better access to allegations made against paedophile priests.