The Vatican will shortly circulate a letter to bishops worldwide with
guidance on combating child sex abuse within the Roman Catholic Church,
a Vatican source says.
Cardinal William Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for
the Doctrine of the Faith, the body in charge of Church dogma, announced
in November that such a document was being prepared.
The cardinal said the circular would include "directives"
relating to the "reception of victims", working with civil authorities,
protecting children and the training of future priests.
The Vatican is under pressure to produce the guidelines
at the request of a US civil court which is examining the Holy See's
role as "employer" in the case of a priest accused of child sex abuse.
The Holy See has meanwhile announced sanctions against
Canadian Raymond Lahey, an ex-bishop who pleaded guilty to child
pornography charges.
It has been criticised however for not taking action
against former Belgian bishop Roger Vangheluwe, who admitted
ill-treating his nephews.
The publication in Ireland in 2009 of a shocking report
documenting hundreds of cases of child abuse by priests and systematic
cover-up efforts by senior clergy plunged the Church into its worst
crisis in many years.
There have since been hundreds more revelations across the United States and Europe.
In July last year, at the height of the child abuse
scandal, the Church announced that it was working on recommendations
"designed to make more rigourous, coherent and effective the directives
already in place."
Pope Benedict XVI has condemned sex abuse crimes with
growing intensity, has met with victims and has tightened Church rules
for dealing with abusers.
But campaigners such as the US-based abuse victims group,
Survivors' Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), say the Church
has not done nearly enough.
Victims' organisations have accused Pope Benedict XVI's
predecessor John Paul II of failing to address the issue of high-ranking
clergy protecting predator priests.