The Vatican
on Monday told bishops worldwide to make fighting sexual abuse of
minors by clerics a priority, demanding that they create “clear and
coordinated” procedures by next year and cooperate with civil law when
required.
The letter is one of the clearest Vatican directives since a sexual
abuse scandal erupted in Europe last year.
But its recommendations were
not binding and stopped short of universalizing the so-called
“zero-tolerance” norms in place in the United States and other
countries, in which a priest is removed from ministry while claims
against him are investigated.
The guidelines noted that the sexual abuse of minors by clerics is not
only punishable by church law but is also “a crime prosecuted by civil
law.”
But they played down the role of civilian review boards that have
been investigating abuse in some countries, including Ireland, saying
they “cannot substitute” for bishops’ ultimate authority in adjudicating
abuse cases.
The Vatican said the document was essentially aimed at making bishops
around the world more responsive — especially in countries where they
have not routinely tackled the problem of sexual abuse of minors — or
even dismissed it.
“The aim of the document is to provide a common denominator for
principles that everyone can bear in mind in making appropriate
directives,” the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said on
Monday.
“Each reality is different, culturally and from the point of
view of different countries’ law.”
The letter appeared to address the concerns of some bishops who had
complained in the past of confusion over procedures.
It stated that
local bishops were required to investigate all claims and send all cases
deemed “credible” to the Vatican for review.
But victims’ rights groups complained the letter did not go far enough.
“Where’s the beef?” the Survivors’ Network for Those Abused by Priests, a
leading victims’ rights groups in the United States, said in a
statement. “There’s no enforcement here. There are no penalties for
bishops who don’t come up with guidelines or who violate their own
guidelines.”
“Until that happens — until top church officials who hide and enable
abuse are severely disciplined — top church officials will continue to
hide and enable abuse,” it said.
The guidelines incorporated revisions made last year to the church’s
procedures in prosecuting sexual abuse, including extending the use of
fast-track procedures against priests and doubling the statute of
limitation for disciplinary action against priests to 10 years from the
victim’s 18th birthday.
The letter came after a sex abuse scandal swept the Catholic Church in
Europe in March 2010, calling into question the actions of the pope
himself, who as archbishop of Munich in the early 1980s had presided
over a diocese where a known pedophile was transferred.
Asked why it took the Vatican more than a year to issue guidelines that
did not alter church law, Father Lombardi said that the letter had to be
vetted by multiple Vatican offices.
“Obviously, someone can say that at
important and urgent moments, it’s better to treat the issue quickly
and swiftly, but if there are delicate and complex issues to consider,
it’s good for there to be consensus,” he said.