Vatican law criminalizes abuse of adults by priests, laity - Medicine Hat NewsMedicine Hat News medicinehatnews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from medicinehatnews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Vatican updates church law to criminalize abuse of adults by priests, laity
Pope Francis has changed Catholic Church law to explicitly criminalize the sexual abuse of adults by priests who abuse their authority and to say that laypeople who hold church office also can be sanctioned for similar sex crimes.
Social Sharing
Law also removes much of the discretion that allowed bishops, religious superiors to ignore or cover up abuse
The Associated Press ·
Posted: Jun 01, 2021 1:27 PM ET | Last Updated: June 1
Msgr. Filippo Iannone, right, and Mgsr. Juan Ignacio Arrieta Ochoa de Chinchetru hold a news conference to illustrate changes in the Catholic Church s Canon Law at the Vatican on Tuesday.(Andrew Medichini/The Associated Press)
Pope Francis holds a rosary as he leads an evening Marian prayer service in the Vatican Gardens May 31, 2021. The service finished a monthlong rosary marathon to pray for the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. (CNS photo/Filippo Monteforte, Reuters pool)
VATICAN CITY (AP) Pope Francis has changed church law to explicitly criminalize the sexual abuse of adults by priests who abuse their authority, and to say that laypeople who hold church office can be sanctioned for similar sex crimes.
The new provisions, released Tuesday after 14 years of study, were contained in the revised criminal law section of the Vatican’s Code of Canon Law, the in-house legal system that covers the 1.3 billion-strong Catholic Church.
Vatican law criminalizes abuse of adults by priests, laity
by
Mons. Filippo Iannone, right, and Mons. Juan Ignacio Arrieta Ochoa de Chinchetru hold a press conference to illustrate changes in the Church s Canon law at the Vatican on Tuesday, June 1, 2021. (Andrew Medichini/AP)
VATICAN CITY Pope Francis has changed Catholic Church law to explicitly criminalize the sexual abuse of adults by priests who abuse their authority and to say that laypeople who hold church office also can be sanctioned for similar sex crimes.
The new provisions, released Tuesday after 14 years of study, were contained in the revised criminal law section of the Vatican’s Code of Canon Law, the in-house legal system that covers the 1.3 billion-member Catholic Church and operates independently from civil laws.