BishopAccountability.org
 
  Catholic Church Revises Laws on Sexual Abuse

By Mary Garrigan
Rapid City Journal
July 16, 2010

http://www.rapidcityjournal.com/news/article_8945b69c-9076-11df-a0b7-001cc4c002e0.html

Bishop Blase Cupich said church law revisions announced Thursday by the Vatican were a "welcome step forward as we deal with the terrible crime and sin of sexual abuse."

Cupich, as chairman of the U.S. bishops' Committee on the Protection of Children and Young People, argued the revisions announced by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome "build on and go beyond" the rules that have been in place since 2002 for dealing with clergy sexual abuse.

But some called the revisions minor. Pro-women's ordination groups questioned why the church paired the sexual abuse revisions with a reconfirmation of its position that the ordination of women was a "grave sin," punishable by excommunication of both the person being ordained and the one performing the ordination.

Mostly, the changes announced Thursday make church law of what previously had been its policy and practice for the canonical trials of abuser priests.

"It really does put into practice of law what has already been done in the past," Cupich said.

Clergy who abuse mentally impaired adults are now under the same official penalties as those who sexually abuse minors. The Vatican also declared the possession, acquisition or distribution of child pornography a "grave crime" that would result in removal from ministry.

Cupich, who is leaving the Diocese of Rapid City in September to become bishop of Spokane, Wash., called the abuse of the mentally impaired particularly "craven, cowardly behavior" and said a priest's involvement with child pornography was particularly offensive as "a degradation of any child of God."

The revisions also extended the canonical statute of limitation from 10 to 20 years for sexual abuse claims; they allow lay people who do not have canonical law training to serve on church tribunals in sexual abuse cases; and they clarify that even cardinals and other high church officials are under the jurisdiction of the congregation office in all matters involving sexual abuse.

Allowing a broader group of people to participate in the process will allow for quicker decisions in the cases, Cupich said.

He pointed out the changes apply only to church trials and in no way affect its stated policy to report all sexual crimes to civil authorities for investigation. In a move seen as Pope Benedict XVI's most recent attempt to defend the church against a clergy sexual abuse that has roiled Europe in recent months, Cupich defended the pontiff against criticism that he has not adopted the U.S. charter for protecting youth and made it binding on the universal church.

"The Holy See is clear that cooperation with civil authorities is to be followed," Cupich said.

Cupich took questions at a Washington, D.C., news conference, and was followed immediately by Archbishop Donald Wuerl, who responded to a clarification in the same document -- "Safeguarding of the Sanctity of the Sacraments: -- that the attempted ordination of a woman is a more grave Church crime that is always referred to the Holy See.

Cupich defended the Vatican's putting child sexual abuse by clergy in the same context as the safeguarding of the sacraments. By doing so, the Church is making it clear that such misconduct violates the core values of our faith and worship," he said.

Women's ordination groups issued statements saying they were offended by the connection of the two issues.

Contact Mary Garrigan at 394-8424 or mary.garrigan@rapidcityjournal.com

 
 

Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.