Pope Francis expands sex abuse law, reaffirms adults can be victims

Pope Francis on Saturday updated a 2019 church law aimed at holding senior churchmen accountable for covering up sexual abuse cases, expanding it to cover lay Catholic leaders and reaffirming that vulnerable adults and not just children can be victims of abuse when they are unable to freely consent.

"The Catholic people were promised that would be 'revolutionary,' a watershed event for holding bishops accountable. But in four years, we've seen no significant housecleaning, no dramatic change," said Anne Barrett Doyle, co-director of BishopAccountability.org, an online resource that has identified 40 bishops investigated globally under the new protocols.

The update also reaffirms that adults such as nuns or seminarians who are dependent on their bishops or superiors can be victims of abuse. Church law had long held that only adults who"habitually" lack the use of reason could be considered victims in the same sense as minors. "This can be read as further manifestation of how the church cares for the frailest and weakest," said Archbishop Filippo Iannone, prefect of the Vatican's legal office."Anyone can be a victim, so there has to be justice. And if the victims are like these , then you must intervene to defend their dignity and liberty."

The 2019 law and its update Saturday contain explicit standards for investigating bishops and superiors, but entrusts other bishops to do the work. It also mandates all church personnel to report allegations of clergy abuse in-house, though it doesn't mandate reporting of abuse by lay leaders and refrains from requiring any reporting to police. The new law expands whistleblower protections and reaffirms the presumption of innocence of the accused.

"Maybe upwards of two-thirds of the bishops' conferences around the world haven't really had the type of capacity-building and resources to implement process this in any meaningful way," said the Rev. Andrew Small, secretary of the pope's child protection advisory board.

Jesus did not say: Upon this gold gilded marble I will build my cathedral. Jesus did not say: Take alms from my followers & dress yourself in robes of embroidered silk & jewelry of gems & gold. Nor say: Lounge in luxurious mansions & feast while millions of my children starve.

Followers of the Catholic church must accept that the Catholic church is an organized child sexual exploitation syndicate disguised as a religious organization. Church members must stop funding this criminal sexual abuse organization & leave its pews to rot of its own corruption.

“The Catholic Church and its institution are one of the greatest oppression of humanity even in this great twenty-first century. Everything about the Catholic institutions and their religion is built on evil 👺 opportunity and oppression of people in the name of HOLY!Devilment .”

The real targets of this new decretal are the many rainbow clergy who always argued, as did Fr Theo, that they were exempt from the vows of celibacy they took since it banned marriage and they never intended marriage so they were exempt, hence the new law, Vos Estis Lux Mundi.

Not one single person has been arrested for visiting Epstein Island, to rape children. Not one.

The Catholic Church is an institutionalized money laundering and pedophilia really ring. And sometimes they feed homeless people. I mean, if they ONLY did money laundering and child rape, I don't think the people would stand for it. DOJCrimDiv FBIWFO POTUS HouseJudiciary

Only decades late...

The Media should be held accountable for covering up sexual abuse cases Jeffrey Epstein

Fix cistine art - no nudity

wbz Reparations for the abused? The church certainly has the money.

Please look at Bishop Thomas Tobin of Rhode Island (previously the Pittsburgh diocese where it 'wasn't his job to report' what he knew what was happening in his diocese because 'it WAS NOT HIS JOB!!!!'

All show.

Yawn. Call us when he announces that ALL reports of sexual abuse, past, present, future, by ANY church member will be immediately forwarded to the police, no exceptions. Why do people fund this weird sex cult?

Please tell the Easter 🐰 Bunny to not manhandle Joe Biden on the lawn like he did last year .

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Pope Francis expands law seeking more accountability on church abuse casesPope Francis updates church law aimed at seeking more accountability on sex abuse cases, expanding it to cover lay Catholic leaders and reaffirming that vulnerable adults can also be abuse victims
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Pope extends sexual abuse law to include lay leadersPope Francis on Saturday updated rules on dealing with sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church, expanding their scope to include lay Catholic leaders and spelling out that both minors and adults can be victims. Good to know it’s 2023 and the Pope now thinks he should hold these people accountable… it’s not like they’ve had several decades to do this when will Congress question on this? Whose going to extend real law , consequential law on the Vatican.
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Pope expands sex abuse law, reaffirms adults can be victimsVATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis on Saturday updated a 2019 church law aimed at holding senior churchmen accountable for covering up cases of sex abuse, expanding it to cover lay Catholic leaders and reaffirming that vulnerable adults can also be victims of abuse when they are unable to consent. Can't wait for the pope to wear his rainbow jersey next! He's the gayest pope we ever have had. I think he likes the Cleveland steamer from time to time. JonLemire I’m no Catholic,but he’s my kind of pope?.taking Catholic Church into 21stcentury JonLemire Still can’t go…too many coverups, too many victims
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Pope expands sex abuse law, reaffirms adults can be victimsFrancis reaffirmed and made permanent the temporary provisions of the 2019 law that were passed in a moment of crisis for the Vatican and Catholic hierarchy.
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