Pope Francis issued a groundbreaking new church law on Thursday, May 9, making it mandatory for all Roman Catholic clergy to report clerical sexual abuse and cover-ups to church authorities, as the latest effort to hold the Catholic hierarchy accountable for failing to protect women and children among its ranks.
In an Apostolic letter, which is set to become Church law, he makes clear that any sexual advance involving the use of power will now be considered abusive and no one, however high their rank, will be exempt from scrutiny.
The new Catholic law titled You are the Light of the World comes against the backdrop of widespread clergy sexual abuse in Catholic institutions across the world, slowly acquiring centre stage as one of the most egregious cases of institutional abuse and oversight dating back decades. The Pope’s announcement arrives on the back of a historic summit at the Vatican in February with 190 bishops and cardinals, to address the problem that has had a debilitating impact on the institutions moral authority, and the credibility of the papacy.
Victims’ verdict: Not enough
Responding to this new decree, survivors have called it insufficient because mandate only seeks whistle-blowers to report to the church, not the police, suggesting that the reputation of the church still continues to be more important than due justice for victims. The law did not make any changes to the penalties for crimes committed.
Vatican commentators have hailed the move, saying this breaks new ground as it is the first time clerics are required to disclose any allegations they may have heard; previously, this had been left to the discretion and conscience of individual priests or nuns.
Despite the assurance, rights advocates have pointed out the basic flaw in the system that entrusts discredited bishops who have dismissed, mishandled and covered up abuse for decades with policing their own.
How are the offences defined?
The law essentially banks on 415,000 Catholic priests and 660,000 nuns in service around the world to report back when they learn or have well-founded motives to believe that a cleric or sister has engaged in.
- sexual abuse of a minor or a vulnerable person
- sexual misconduct, ie., forcing someone by violence or threat or through abuse of authority, with an adult
- production, exhibition, possession or distribution… of child pornography” and “the recruitment of or inducement of a minor or a vulnerable person to participate in pornographic exhibitions,” or,
- if a superior has covered up any of the above crimes
A thin silver lining
The only step-up it offers is a universal civil reporting law; for the first time, the church states that victims cannot be silenced and the clergy is obligated to follow state law and meet their obligations to report any abuse to “the competent civil authorities.” Reports are expected to be made within 90 days to offices within Church dioceses.
While a separate new child protection policy was solicited, the fact that the Church acknowledges abuse of minors, as well as nuns within the organisaton, is being hailed as a historic step by some.
Coming to the brass tacks, there aren’t too many. An outline for how to conducting preliminary investigations when the accused is a bishop, cardinal or religious superior has been provided and must be implemented by every diocese; the Church has also stipulated all dioceses to have an internal system in place to confidentially receive the claims.
Even though the decree does not explicitly extend the statutes of limitations for sexual abuse, there is reason to believe that it will apply retroactively to old cases of sexual wrong-doings and cover-ups, as well as encourage victims who have had no framework for protection before, to speak out.
An important aspect is the whistleblower protection nuns and priests will receive from this point forward, hopefully breaking the cycle of intimidation that not only prevents survivors from speaking out but also ostracises those who support the victim.
Another crucial introduction is the policy to inform victims of the outcome of the investigation if they request it, as a response to reports that most of them are kept in the dark about how their claims were handled.
A new legal framework for US bishops was also announced as the Church prepares to adopt accountability measures next month to respond to the scandal there.
But according to those within the Church who are most vocal about the issue, a broad cultural shift and an acknowledgement of the problem, especially in Latin American, African and Asian countries, where the future of the Church lies, is a must.
What about the gaps?
Far from being revolutionary, the law is not all-encompassing and ill-equipped to deliver real justice to victims.
The global victims’ group Ending Clergy Abuse has accused the Vatican of using the minority card as a pretext for not reporting sexual abuse to law enforcement authorities and to keep abuse secret. The Vatican shouldnt hide behind the argument that mandatory reporting to police is a problem in some countries, the ECA said according to the Associated Press.
The Vatican has often argued that subjecting their clergy to different (actual) legal systems would expose them to communal threats in countries where Catholics are a persecuted minority. The institution also holds the media in the same distant regard, never endorsing a global reporting requirement or the need for an independent investigation.
Furthermore, the decree does not envisage sanctions or punitive measures for violations or negligence in case of failure to implement the provisions or retaliate against priests and nuns who make reports against them. Will those who were accused before be probed and dismissed, if found guilty? What about the ones who have shielded them?
The problem, in a nutshell, is that the process remains entirely internal and essentially tasks bishops to watch other bishops.
A long timeline of abuse
The new law says victims cant be forced to keep quiet, even though the investigation itself will still be conducted under pontifical secret. Of the innumerable accusations that have emerged in the last few years, only a handful of clerical predators have ever been sanctioned or removed for abuse or cover-up, and usually only after particularly egregious misbehavior became public.
Former archbishop and Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, 88 was defrocked in the days leading up the summit in February, after accusations against him caused furore; a review board later found McCarrick found guilty of sexually abusing a 16-year-old boy 55 years ago, while he was Archdiocese of New York.
That same week, Vatican treasurer Cardinal George Pell, once the third-most senior Catholic in the world, was evicted from Pope Francis inner circle after a unanimous verdict last December found him guilty on five charges of child sexual abuse.
Neither men face criminal charges as of yet.
Another damning Pennsylvania grand jury report in 2018 detailed widespread sexual abuse by more than 300 priests in the state; the issue became Vaticans biggest crisis in modern times. BBC reports that priests assaulted more than 3,600 children in Germany between 1946 and 2014.
But it was in 2002 the Boston Globe investigated and reported for the first time, a series of stories on rampant sexual abuse by priests and systematic cover-ups by the Archdiocese of Boston.
People must know that bishops are at the service of the people, said Archbishop Charles Scicluna, the Vaticans longtime sex crimes prosecutor. They are not above the law, and if they do wrong, they must be reported.
What’s happening in India?
Indias Catholics say there is a culture of fear and silence in the Catholic Church about sexual abuse by priests. Those who have dared to speak out say it has been an ordeal.
Last year, a group of Keralite nuns broke decades of silence and decorum to come forward against Bishop Franco Mulakkal, after a fellow nun accused him of rape and sexual assault between 2014 and 2016.
This is one of the most well-known cases of sexual abuse related to the Catholic Church in India; it has seen an outpouring of support for protesters ostracised by their congregation and families for fighting the much-needed fight. Mulakkals name, on the other hand, was cleared and he was welcomed back at his diocese with open arms.
Scroll.in reports a slew of other assault cases by priests: In 2014, the police arrested a Kannur vicar for molesting a nine-year-old; in 2016, a priest was sentenced for raping a 14-year-old in Thrissur; and in 2017, another vicar from Kannur allegedly raped and impregnated a 16-year-old girl.
A clarion call to salvage faith
The pope had been under immense pressure to provide leadership and a solution to one of the most pressing issues that shadowed the Catholic community. When he was elected in 2013, he had called for decisive action against sexual abuse. Archbishop of Mumbai Cardinal Oswald Gracias, tipped by some as the next Pope, admitted earlier this year he to had failed to respond quickly or support the victims in at least two cases of sexual abuse.
Now the pop has made good on his promise to take concrete action and offer workable solutions to tackle abuse with this new decree, proving that the Church is no longer begrudgingly recognising the problem. But its efforts don’t reflect any real interest in attacking the systemic roots of a centuries-old issue.
More radical changes will certainly need to follow for real change to happen; for the time being, how the Church tackles the avalanche of abuse reports that are likely to follow in the wake of this decree, will reveal where its true allegiance lies.
Prarthana Mitra is a Staff Writer at Qrius