The mandatory reporting provision marks the first time the Vatican has put into law requirements for Catholic officials to report allegations of sex crimes to police or face fines and possible jail time.Francis also issued child protection guidelines for Vatican City state and its youth seminary, acting after the global sex abuse scandal exploded anew last year and the Associated Press reported that the headquarters of the Catholic Church had no policy to protect children from predator priests.
The issue of whether adult seminarians, religious sisters or other adults who are emotionally or financially dependent on clergy can be considered"vulnerable people" has come to the fore in the wake of the scandal over ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, a once high-ranking American cleric accused of molesting seminarians, and revelations of priests and bishops sexually preying on nuns.
The law now requires any Vatican public official who learns of an allegation of abuse to report it to Vatican prosecutors"without delay." Failure to do so can result in a fine of up to about $5,600 or, in the case of a Vatican gendarme, up to six months in prison. Mimicking some provisions in place in the U.S. church, the provisions require background checks for staff and volunteers working with minors and calls for safe-environment training for all Vatican personnel.
Last year, AP reported that Vatican City had no policy to protect children or require suspected abuse to be reported to police, even though the Holy See required such policies in Catholic dioceses around the globe and had told the U.N. in 2013 that such a policy was in the works.
Why wouldn't these crimes have a MANDATORY reporting requirement to ACTUAL PROSECUTORS in, for example, the United States?
Hmmm not enough
Yeah, like that will work. They could have reported each other for years & didn't.
Why not to local law enforcement? You've already Proven that you can't successfully manage this internally. C'mon Pope Francis!
Fox meet Henhouse...sheesh.
Maybe there’s a slight problem with “vows of celibacy?” It doesn’t seem to atttract the people it’s supposed to?
That he has to do this is astonishing. I’m a former catholic. Emphasis on former. Makes me sick to my stomach.
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Pope Francis enacts new legislation requiring Vatican officials to report abuseThe move is part of new measures to prevent sexual abuse of minors within the walls of the Vatican. God Save Pope Francis Sigh. LOL
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