Pope Francis decrees the first global rules to report abuses

The new standards, published in a motu proprio or law enacted by the same pontiff, will come into effect on June 1 and are experimental, in that they will be reevaluated after a three-year trial period.

The law, entitled Your estis lux mundi (You are the light of the world), obliges bishops or other church leaders to report to their superiors any credible allegation of abuse.

Vatican hierarchies and Francisco supporters said that by giving all local churches rules on how to report inappropriate behavior, the pope actually wrote the bishops' responsibility in ecclesiastical law. Until now, reporting and research practices have varied widely from one country to another, even from one diocese to the next .

The law deals with badual abuse of children under 18, vulnerable adults with physical or mental disabilities and people who are exploited because they occupy positions where they can not exercise their full autonomy. It also covers the creation, possession or use of child badgraphy.

If these crimes are disguised by bishops or other hierarchies of the church, or if these hierarchs were intended to "hinder or avoid civil or canonical inquiries," writes Francisco, they too will be subject to investigation.

The failure of the church to hold bishops and senior church officials accountable for concealing badual abuse has generated tremendous frustration and repercussions both inside and out. 39, outside the church.

Francisco acknowledged this damage in the new law.

For ecclesiastical abuse to "no longer occur in all its forms, it requires a deep and continuous conversion of hearts, accompanied by concrete and effective actions involving everyone in the Church," Francisco Francisco wrote. . "It is therefore good that procedures are universally adopted to prevent and combat these crimes that betray the trust of the faithful," he added.

Victims of abuse and their advocates may be disappointed by the new rules, which do not address church judgments or sanctions for abuse and concealment, but focus instead on the procedures. For the frustrated faithful and others exasperated by the lack of action of the church to deal with abuses, the new law was a modest and expected application of common sense.

However, on May 9, the archbishop of Malta, Charles Scicluna, chief investigator on the issue of badual crimes, said at a press conference at the Vatican that the new law represented an important step forward. Francisco's supporters said the law faced many opposition within the Vatican. Many of them still are not convinced that abuse is a recurring problem or think that they have already been resolved.

Scicluna said the new universal law imposes a degree of accountability by imposing reporting of abuses, including inappropriate behavior of church leaders, and provides reporting pathways to ensure that complaints reach the pope or the authorities. . ecclesiastics concerned.

"No member of management is struggling with the law," said Scicluna, adding, "There is no immunity".

Scicluna said that decades of experience had shown a "little focus on the protection of the institution", while the new law establishes "disclosure as the main policy of the church" .

The law does not require that civil authorities be informed – as many have asked for criticism, especially in the United States – although it allows national episcopal conferences to adopt such policies. Scicluna said that "it would be positive" for people to go to the police.

Church leaders have argued that a universal obligation to do so would be unthinkable, because in some parts of the world, reporting badual abuse of children – especially same-bad abuse – would result in death. of priests.

Scicluna said that universal law should be a factor in the vast array of cultures represented in more than two hundred countries.

"It can not be too strict," he said. "Because otherwise it will be inoperative."

Shortly after his election in 2013, Francisco said that he would remedy the erosion of trust caused by the scandals of abuse, but the change has been slow. Francisco sometimes stumbled, sometimes baderting that he believed more in the bishop than the victims, by canceling the creation of a new church body in order to empower the bishops and by failing to act. decisive.

Many victims of badual abuse said that this conversation seemed hollow to them. Over the past year, his anger has invaded jury reports and investigations of numerous church abuses in the United States, where one of the country's leading cardinals, Theodore McCarrick, was finally expelled from the priesthood by Francisco because of his abuses Scandals were also recorded in Chile and Australia, where Cardinal George Pell, a former adviser close to Francisco and senior Vatican official, was sentenced in March to six years in prison for badual violence.

Francisco's enemies in the church, who believe that his inclusive approach is harmful, took advantage of the crisis to take on the papacy, asking at one point for the pope's resignation to have concealed the acts of McCarrick. and those of other abusive clerics. This accusation has not been proven.

In response to pressure, Francisco this year agreed on a historic meeting at the Vatican with world church leaders to inform them of the widespread phenomenon that many of them have again denied, downplayed or seemed misunderstanding.

The Vatican press office said the law announced Thursday was the product of reflection during and after the February meeting and that it represented "a major commitment of the church."

Francisco's supporters, including his experts in the fight against badual abuse, said that unless the pope had the cooperation of bishops, the law might be ignored, weaken his authority and to leave the scourge of abuse. to be badisted.

"I hope that this commitment will be implemented in a fully ecclesial way," Francisco wrote in law, "and that it will be an expression of the communion that unites us. through mutual listening and openness to the contributions of all those who are deeply interested in this journey of conversion ".

Victims of badual abuse and their lawyers, many of whom sought to be excluded from the faulty clergy and prelates who concealed them, said the results of the February meeting at the Vatican had been very disappointing.

The new temporary law gives church dioceses a year to establish offices and procedures to facilitate reporting of abuse and protecting the privacy and reputation of victims.

Through regulations, priests and other church leaders aware of a credible allegation of abuse are required to report it "immediately" to their superiors. The local Archbishop or Prelate will be in charge of the investigation and a fund may be created to finance it.

There are critics that a religious leader in an area should investigate, saying that it would allow the church to better investigate the bishops and hold their members accountable.

The law allows archbishops to include experts in the field – or "qualified persons" in the lexicon of law – to contribute to investigations. In some cases, a church leader may even delegate an investigation to a layman. If a prelate believes that there is a conflict of interest, the investigation must be challenged and forwarded to the corresponding Vatican Department.

The investigator must, in accordance with the law, request "information from individuals and institutions, including civilians, likely to provide useful information for the investigation".

Francisco specifies that the church must not in any case intervene with the civil authorities.

"These rules apply without prejudice to the rights and obligations established in each place by the laws of the States", he writes, "in particular those relating to the possible obligations of information of the competent civil authorities".

Critics fear that without a single department dedicated to abuse cases, the infamous Vatican bureaucracy will prevent effective responses.

However, Francisco says nothing can be done to silence the alleged victims.

"Whoever makes a report can not impose any obligation to remain silent as to its content", he writes, although it specifies that "the person under investigation is recognized as presumed innocent".

Scicluna said during a brief interview Thursday that when it came to solving the complete equation of violence, the law was linked to the first parts of the report and the report. ;charge.

For now, the criminal part of the equation "remains and leads to further development," he said. He added: "If you are guilty and have been found guilty of badual abuse of minors, you can not exercise ministry."

When asked if he was expecting Francisco to publish such a development in ecclesiastical law, he replied, "I hope so."

Copyright: 2019 New York Times News Service