ROME
National Catholic Reporter
July 16, 2020
By Joshua J. McElwee
The Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith directed the world’s Catholic bishops July 16 to investigate claims of sexual abuse against minors even when they appear unfounded, reminding the prelates that failure to do so can lead to their removal from office for negligence of duty.
In a new handbook outlining step-by-step how bishops and religious superiors should investigate reports of abuse by clerics, the congregation also appears to make the Vatican’s first blanket request that church officials forward all such reports to civil authorities, including in countries where that is not required by law.
Pope Francis had previously obligated bishops and superiors to abide by existing civil reporting laws.
The new document, known in Latin as a Vademecum, is not a series of laws or norms. Cardinal Luis Ladaria, the head of the doctrinal congregation, likened it in a statement to an “instruction manual,” meant to help bishops understand the specific procedures they should follow in receiving and investigating abuse claims.
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