Vatican’s new guidance on sexual abuse investigations emphasizes involving police

MSN

July 16, 2020

By Zack Budryk

A long-anticipated Vatican manual on investigations of possible sexual abuse directs bishops to report all such allegations to police, even in cases where they are not legally obligated to do so.

Under the Catholic Church’s new policies, “even in cases where there is no explicit legal obligation to do so, the ecclesiastical authorities should make a report to the competent civil authorities if this is considered necessary to protect the person involved or other minors from the danger of further criminal acts.”

The manual, which is not legally binding, also requires clergy to obey “legitimate” subpoena requests and directs against outright dismissal of anonymous allegations or those that fall outside the statue of limitations without further investigation, The Associated Press reported. Allegations should only be dismissed out of hand if a bishop determines “manifest impossibility,” such as the accused being elsewhere at the time of the allegation.

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