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May 9, 2019
Today’s announcement by the Holy See of a Motu Proprio by Pope Francis is welcome news. Mandating a consistent global response to this threat on children, young people and vulnerable adults is a major milestone, making it clear that any cover-up of child sexual abuse is never acceptable.
I look forward to the June plenary session of the Bishops of the United States when we discuss how we can implement the Motu Proprio. This will strengthen the work in our country which has been made possible by the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, which has effectively guided our efforts for seventeen years.
Allow me to paraphrase the thoughts of the president of our episcopal conference, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, by noting that the existing framework in the United States, including victim outreach, zero tolerance, reporting allegations to civil authorities, and lay expertise on review boards, among other measures, positions us to implement the Holy Father’s instructions. By embracing the painful experience of survivors and working on these new protections, let us pray we continue to grow into a stronger and purified Church.
Bishop McManus
CNS: Pope issues new norms on mandatory abuse reporting, bishop accountability
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis has revised and clarified norms and procedures for holding bishops and religious superiors accountable in protecting minors as well as in protecting members of religious orders and seminarians from abuse.The new juridical instrument is meant to help bishops and religious leaders around the world clearly understand their duties and church law, underlining how they are ultimately responsible for proper governance and protecting those entrusted to their care. For this reason, the new document establishes a clearer set of universal procedures for reporting suspected abuse, carrying out initial investigations and protecting victims and whistleblowers.
The new document, given "motu proprio," on the pope's own initiative, was titled "Vos estis lux mundi" ("You are the light of the world"), based on a verse from the Gospel of St. Matthew (5:14).
"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 said in the document, released by the Vatican May 9. The norms go into effect June 1.
In order to stop all forms of abuse from ever happening again, not only is "a continuous and profound conversion of hearts" necessary, there must be "concrete and effective actions that involve everyone in the church," he wrote.
Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, said the new norms ascribe a new role to heads of dioceses by making them responsible for alerting the proper Vatican authorities of all forms of suspected abuse, including the possession, distribution or creation of pornography involving a minor.
He told Vatican News May 9 that the norms respond to Pope Francis' continued insistence for concrete and effective measures to ensure bishops and religious superiors have a very clear understanding of what their obligations are and what they should and should not do when it comes to safeguarding.
It also requires all priests and religious to report suspected abuse or cover-ups and encourages any lay person to report through a now-mandated reporting "system" or office in each diocese.
How the office or "system" works will be up to each diocese, but "the idea is that anyone who has suffered abuse can have recourse to the local church, while being assured they will be well received, protected from retaliation, and that their reports will be treated with the utmost seriousness," Andrea Tornielli, editorial director of the Dicastery for Communication, told Vatican News.
The new norms now stipulate:
-- Procedures for the investigation of bishops, cardinals, patriarchs, religious superiors and all those who lead -- even temporarily -- a diocese or particular church, including personal prelatures and personal ordinariates.
-- Leaders will be held accountable not only with suspected cases of committing abuse themselves, but also accusations of having interfered with, covered up or failed to address abuse accusations they were aware of.
-- When the accused individual is a bishop, the metropolitan will receive a mandate from the Holy See to investigate or delegate a person in charge of the preliminary investigation. A status report must be sent to the Holy See every 30 days, and the investigation completed with 90 days with some exceptions. Vatican offices are also held to specific timeframes and prompt action.-- By June 2020, every diocese in the world must create an office or "public, stable and easily accessible systems" for reporting suspected abuse against a minor or vulnerable person, failure of compliance of abuse guidelines by bishops or superiors, and cases of interference or cover-ups in either a civil or canonical investigation of suspected abuse.
-- All priests and religious that become aware of abuse or its cover-up must alert their bishop or religious superior promptly.
-- A minor is anyone under the age of 18 and a vulnerable person is "any person in a state of infirmity, physical or mental deficiency, or deprivation of personal liberty which, in fact, even occasionally, limits their ability to understand or to want to otherwise resist the offense."
-- The definition of child pornography as any representation of a minor, regardless of the media used, "involved in explicit sexual activities, whether real or simulated, and any representation of sexual organs of minors for primarily sexual purposes."
-- Bishops and religious superiors will be accountable not just for protecting minors against abuse but also for protecting seminarians, novices and members of religious orders from violence and sexual abuse stemming from an abuse of power. The norms apply to reports of "delicts against the sixth commandment" regarding clerics or members of religious orders and "forcing someone, by violence or threat or through abuse of authority, to perform or submit to sexual acts."
-- Those who report abuse cannot be subjected to pressure, retaliation and discrimination or told to keep silent. The seal of confession, however, remains inviolable and is not affected by the new norms.
-- Procedures for carrying out the preliminary investigation include the bishop immediately requesting from the Vatican that he or a delegate be assigned to begin the preliminary investigation. If he considers an accusation is unfounded, the papal nuncio is informed. The Vatican will have 30 days to respond to the request and the bishop sends a status report to the Vatican every 30 days.
-- When the investigation is complete, the bishop sends the results to the proper Vatican office, which then follows existing canon law.
-- The continued obligation to respect civil laws regarding mandatory reporting.
-- Those who reported suspected abuse or cover-up will be told of the outcome of the investigation if they request to be informed.
-- A fund can be set up by bishops' conferences, synods and church provinces to cover the costs of investigations.
The document is a follow-up to Pope Francis' 2016 document, "As a Loving Mother," on transparency and accountability of bishops and religious superiors.
The two documents together are meant to correct what had been a lack of or unclear procedures for investigating the way a bishop complies with already established norms against abuse and clearly expressing the consequences of noncompliance or cover-ups.
PHOTO: Pope Francis prays in front of a candle in memory of victims of sexual abuse as he visits St. Mary's Pro-Cathedral in Dublin Aug. 25, 2018. Pope Francis has revised and clarified norms and procedures for holding bishops and religious superiors accountable in protecting minors as well as in protecting members of religious orders and seminarians from abuse. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)
Days of covering up abuse allegations are over, says Vatican adviser
By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis' new norms on protecting minors and strengthening accountability are the latest steps in driving home the message that the days of keeping abuse allegations covered up or ignored are over, said the Vatican's top abuse investigator.
In the past, some people may have thought they were protecting the church by remaining silent, but that behavior was never acceptable, Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta, adjunct secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, told reporters.
"The good of the church requires condemnation" to the proper authorities when it comes to abuse of minors and abuses of power, he said.
The archbishop spoke to reporters about Pope Francis' latest apostolic letter, "Vos estis lux mundi" ("You are the light of the world") at a news conference at the Vatican May 9. The new document establishes and clarifies norms and procedures for holding bishops and religious superiors accountable when it comes to safeguarding minors as well as abuses carried out against adults with violence, threats or an abuse of authority.
The new norms are important, Archbishop Scicluna said, because they clearly tell people they have an obligation to report already existing crimes, negligence and inappropriate behavior to church authorities.
That obligation "has always been there, but experience shows us that either a closed-shop mentality or a misplaced interest in protecting the institution was hindering disclosure," he said.
The now universal law of mandating all clerics, as well as men and women religious, to report to the competent ecclesiastical authorities the abuses of which they become aware is important, he said, "because it makes disclosure the main policy of the church."
Procedures have already been in place when it comes to accusations of abuse of minors by priests, so the new norms address what to do when the accused is a bishop, cardinal, patriarch or religious superior and how accusations against leadership of abuse or misconduct must be reported.
For example, "if a priest uses force with an adult, it's the bishop who takes that case," he said. But "when a person in leadership is guilty of misconduct, the jurisdiction pertains to the Holy See," he said.
The new norms and clear procedures, particularly with their emphasis on having an impartial investigation of leaders, send the message that "no leadership is above the law."
"There is no immunity" from God's law and canon law, he added.
When asked if victims will be pleased with the new laws, the archbishop said, "Victims will be satisfied if the laws give rise to a new culture."
"I would never go to a person who has suffered, give them a piece of paper and say that we have fixed everything. People need concrete responses" and action, which is why "I am telling people, 'Help the pope so that his desire (to prevent abuse) becomes a reality in your dioceses.'"
The new norms will not fix everything, he added, but they do send "a very strong message that disclosure is the order of the day, and not silence."
It is also the first time "compliance with state laws" concerning the abuse of minors gets placed in the realm of the church's universal law, the archbishop said.
Even though the doctrinal congregation's circular letter in 2011 made it clear the church must obey civil laws regarding abuse and reporting, the new apostolic letter "ratifies in a universal law" that mandate to respect civil requirements.
"No form of loyalty to the church must keep citizens from obeying their nation," he said, "because in the past we have had very sad cases where people said, 'Let's not talk, we want to protect the church.'"
"This is a no-go," he said, "It is not acceptable" because the good of the church requires truth and transparency, which includes respecting civil law, he said, adding that he hoped people felt "empowered to go to the police" to denounce a crime.
Church and local authorities should be working together tirelessly to combat abuse against minors because it has always been a crime for society and the church, he said.
Another important part of the new law is it facilitates disclosure by mandating that all dioceses must establish within one year "stable and publicly accessible systems," which could include a specific office or "listening center," where people can report cases of sexual abuse or their cover-up.
National bishops' conferences should help dioceses figure out the best and most culturally appropriate ways to provide this form of outreach and service, if they have not done so already, he said.
The fact that there are still countries where the church does not provide a clear and permanent place or way to report abuse shows "this universal law was needed" and that having structures for disclosure is "no longer an option," it is a papally mandated law, Archbishop Scicluna said.
"If people have the right and the duty to denounce something illicit" in the case of abuse, "they also have the right to denounce if, after one year, nothing has been done" in regard to the new mandate, he said.
