Pope lifts shroud of secrecy
VATICAN CITY: Pope Francis abolished the use of the Vatican’s highest level of secrecy in clergy sexual abuse cases on Tuesday, responding to mounting criticism that the rule of “pontifical secrecy” has been used to protect paedophiles, silence victims and prevent police from investigating crimes.
Victims and their advocates cheered the move as long overdue, but cautioned that the proof of its effectiveness would come when the Catholic hierarchy is forced to respond to national inquiries, grand jury subpoenas and criminal prosecutors who are increasingly demanding all internal documentation about abusers.
“The carnival of obscurity is over,” declared Juan Carlos Cruz, a prominent Chilean survivor of clergy abuse and advocate for victims.
In a new law, the pontiff decreed that information in abuse cases must be protected by church leaders to ensure its “security, integrity and confidentiality”. But he said the rule of “pontifical secrecy” no longer applied to abuserelated accusations, trials and decisions under the Catholic Church’s canon law.
The Vatican’s leading sex crimes investigator, Archbishop Charles Scicluna, said the reform was an “epochal decision” that will facilitate coordination with civil law enforcement and open up lines of communication with victims.
While documentation from the church’s in-house legal proceedings will still not become public, Archbishop Scicluna said, the reform now removes any excuse to not cooperate with legitimate legal requests from prosecutors, police or other civil authorities.
Pope Francis also raised from 14 to 18 the cutoff age below which the Vatican considers pornographic images to be child pornography. The reform is a response to the Vatican’s increasing awareness of the prolific spread of online child porn that has frequently implicated even high-ranking churchmen.
“The reforms are long overdue but symbolise an important step in the right direction,” said SNAP, the victims advocacy group. “Still right now they are only words on paper and what needs to happen next is concrete action.”
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.
Robert Hoatson, a survivor and founder of the clergy abuse advocacy group Road to Recovery, said the change was long overdue and a “hopeful sign that the church will finally hold itself accountable for the centuriesold scandal”.’
The Vatican in May issued another law explicitly saying victims cannot be silenced and have a right to learn the outcome of their canonical trials. The new document expands the point by saying not only the victim, but any witnesses or the person who lodged the accusation cannot be compelled to silence.
“Excellent news,’’ tweeted prominent Irish survivor Marie Collins, a founding member of the sex abuse advisory commission. “At last a real and positive change.”