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Pope Francis has tried to tackle the decades-long sexual abuse scandals involving Catholic priests around the globe. AFP
Pope updates canon law to target priests’ sexual abuse
Wed, 2 June 2021
Pope Francis updated the Catholic Church’s criminal code on June 1, reinforcing penalties for priests who sexually abuse minors, measures long sought by activists against paedophilia.
The most comprehensive revision of the Code of Canon Law in nearly 40 years followed a years-long process that begun under Francis’s predecessor, Benedict XVI, and involved input from canonist and criminal law experts.
It came after repeated complaints by victims of sexual abuse and others that previous wording within the code was outdated and opaque.