Pope’s order to report sex abuse falls far short of victims’ demands

POPE FRANCIS has ordered that all suspected cases of sex abuse and coverups by Catholic clergy must be reported to Church authorities.

The Vatican described it as a “muscular response” to scandals that have rocked the Catholic Church.

But the Pope’s failure to include a duty to report such cases to police or civil authorities bitterly disappointed campaign groups, who argue priests and bishops should not be considered above the law.

Nor do the new rules carry sanctions or punishment for clergy who fail to report abuse cases to their superiors.

The Pope issued a motu proprio – a legal document drawn up under his authority – which decrees every Catholic diocese in the world must have reporting systems in place by June next year to allow cases to be referred to Church authorities.

“The crimes of sexual abuse offend Our Lord, cause physical, psychological and spiritual damage to the victims and harm the community of the faithful,” the Pope wrote in the document. Insisting that “much has already been accomplished”, he said the Church “must continue to learn from the bitter lessons of the past”.

The rules apply not only to children molested or raped by priests, but to “vulnerable adults” – a reference to nuns who have been sexually exploited by male clergy.

The measures stopped well short of victims’ demands that abusive priests should be reported to the police.

“Nothing has changed with regard to reporting cases to the civil authorities,” said Irish abuse survivor Marie Collins.

Ms Collins was appointed by the Pope to a special commission on addressing the scandals but resigned in protest at its lack of progress.

She added: “There are no consequences for clergy who don’t report abuse. I have gone past being dispirited or depressed. The words change, but the actions don’t. It seems the Vatican is going backwards, not forwards.”

A conference at the Vatican in February, which brought together nearly 200 bishops to discuss ways of combating sex abuse by clergy, had “achieved nothing”, Ms Collins said.