Photo: Giuseppe Ciccia/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images
On Thursday, Pope Francis announced a sweeping change to the way the Catholic Church responds to allegations of sexual abuse, but the measure doesn’t require church officials to notify law enforcement, sparking criticism that it doesn’t go far enough to protect survivors.
Local church officials now are obligated to “report promptly” any allegations of abuse and cover-up, with archbishops or clerics sending word to the Vatican, which has 30 days to decide whether to launch an investigation that itself must be finished within 90 days, reportsVatican News.
The papal document assures that whistleblowers within the church will not face retaliation, butstops short of requiring them to report alleged abuse to police, according to Associated Press.
“While this new law will compels priests and nuns to report abuse, it requires them to do so internally, to the very church structures and offices that have been receiving and routing allegations of abuse for years,” the statement said. “We would have been far more impressed if this new law required church officials to report to police and prosecutors instead.”
Garabedian’s statement added, “History has taught us that the Vatican, with its self-proclaimed law and procedures, is incapable of protecting innocent children from being sexually abused.”
The new papal order follows an unprecedented February summit in Rome wheresurvivors urged the church to adopt a zero-tolerance policyin abuse cases, reports CBS News.
Although Pope Francis himself didn’t attend a meeting between survivors and bishops to address the issue, the pressure he faced to more forcefully respond to the decades-long scandal of sexual abuse within the church had continued to build.
The decree also comes as U.S. bishops are preparing to meet next month to consider new steps toward accountability in abuse claims.
• Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage?Click hereto get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.
“We have said for years that priests must conform to certain strict rules, so why shouldn’t bishops and others in the hierarchy do the same?” said Cardinal Marc Ouellet, head of the Vatican office for bishops, reports AP. “It’s not just a law, but a profound responsibility.”
Changes set forth in the papal document affect only the reporting and investigation of abuse, butdo not propose any revisions in penaltiesfor those found guilty, according toThe New York Times.
The changes also are experimental and temporary, to be revisited in three years, the outlet reports.
“Even if so much has already been accomplished,” he added, “we must continue to learn from the bitter lessons of the past, looking with hope toward the future.”
source: people.com
