Bishop John McAreavey, Bishop of Dromore and co-chair of the Bishops’ Council for Communications welcomed the publication by the Holy See of the new Normae de Gravioribus Delictis (norms concerning the most serious crimes). He said, “I welcome in particular the fact that the new norms refer to sanctions against abusers of vulnerable adults, including those with special needs of any age. By placing this abuse on a par with the abuse of children and young people, the Church wishes to highlight the dignity of those with special needs and its desire to keep them safe.”
“I also welcome the making explicit of the crime of paedophile pornography relating to the acquisition, possession or disclosure by a member of the clergy. In this way, the Church wishes to highlight the horrendous degradation of children used in the production of pornographic materials.”
“Yesterday’s publication is not the end of the matter; rather it reflects the Holy See’s ongoing commitment to addressing the very serious issue of child abuse. The Holy See is working on further instructions for bishops, so that the directives it issues on the subject of sexual abuse of minors, whether by clergy or in institutions connected with the Church, may be increasingly rigorous, coherent and effective.”
Monsignor Charles Scicluna, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, addressed concern in the media that sexual abuse against minors was being equated with the attempted ordination of women in the eyes of canon law.
“They are not on the same level," he said. Sexual abuses of minors and child pornography are the graver sins and represent "an egregious violation of moral law.” And while the attempted ordination is grave, it's "on another level," he said, explaining that it a violation of sacramental law, a wound that goes against the Catholic faith and the sacrament of Holy Orders. He noted that their comparison is incidental that both are found in the same document.
The publication of the norms come from 2001 when Pope John Paul II promulgated a Motu Proprio Sacramentorum sanctitatis tutela, which gave the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith responsibility to deal with and judge serious crimes within canon law. This responsibility had previously been attributed to other dicasteries, or was not completely clear.
The Motu Proprio was accompanied by practical and procedural norms, known as “Normae de gravioribus delictis.”
Over the nine years since then, experience has suggested that these norms be integrated and updated, to streamline and simplify the procedures and make them more effective, and to take account of new problems.
This has been achieved principally by the Pope attributing new faculties to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF); faculties which, however, were not organically integrated into the initial norms.
This has now come about, within the context of a systematic revision of those norms. The serious crimes to which the regulations referred concerned vital aspects of Church life: the Sacraments of the Eucharist and of Penance, but also sexual abuse committed by a priest against a minor under the age of eighteen.
Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi explained the norms and first pointed out that they accelerate procedures.
They give the CDF the possibility of reaching a decision in cases without a full judicial process. Particularly serious cases are to be sent straight to the Pope, who will decide whether or not to dismiss the offender from the priesthood.
Also a doctorate degree in canon law is no longer required for a person, including members of the lay community, to take part in the judicial process as a member of the tribunal, a lawyer or a prosecutor.
Fr Lombardi went on to explain that the statute of limitations for pursuing a case of sexual abuse against an alleged abuser was increased from 10 to 20 years after the victim's eighteenth birthday, with the possibility of further extension on a case-by-case basis.
Additionally involvement with paedophile pornography is now counted among the most serious sins of the Church.
He stressed that the question of collaboration with civil authorities remains untouched - namely that local Church authorities "comply with the requirements of law in the various countries, and ... do so in good time, not during or subsequent to the canonical trial.”
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