A Vatican Information Services update issued on Saturday contained two items dealing with abuse scandals. One was a "Note Issued By Holy See Press Office Director" (N), the other was an interview of Msgr. Charles J. Scicluna, promoter of justice of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith which was published in an Italian newspaper (I). The following are highlights from these two documents...
* "Firstly, the line being taken by the German Episcopal Conference has shown itself to be the right way to face the problem in its various aspects. The declarations of the president of that conference, Archbishop Zollitsch, following his meeting with the Holy Father, recap the strategy laid down in the conference's recent assembly and reiterate its essential operational aspects: recognition of the truth and help for victims, reinforcement of preventative measures and constructive collaboration with the authorities (including the judicial authorities of State) for the common good of society. Archbishop Zollitsch also unequivocally reiterated the opinion of experts according to whom the question of celibacy should in no way be confused with that of paedophilia. The Holy Father has encouraged the line being followed by the German bishops which - even taking account of the specific context of their own county - may be considered as a useful and inspiring model for other episcopal conferences that find themselves facing similar problems." (N)
* "It is absolutely clear that [Church] norms did not seek, and have not favoured, any kind of cover-up of such crimes; quite the contrary, they initiated intense activities to confront, judge and adequately punish the crimes in the context of ecclesiastical legislation. And it must be remembered that all this was planned and set in motion when Cardinal Ratzinger was prefect of the Congregation. The line he followed was always one of rigour and coherence in dealing with even the most difficult situations." (N)
* The current Pope "was completely unconnected with the decisions in the wake of which the abuses took place [in his previous diocese when he was Archbishop]. Rather, it is evident that over recent days some people have sought - with considerable persistence, in Regensburg and Munich - elements that could personally involve the Holy Father in questions of abuse. To any objective observer, it is clear that these efforts have failed." (N)
* "It may be that in the past...some bishops were, in practice, too indulgent towards this sad phenomenon [of abuse by priests]. And I say in practice because, in principle, the condemnation of this kind of crime has always been firm and unequivocal." (I)
* "Secrecy during the investigative phase served to protect the good name of all the people involved; first and foremost, the victims themselves, then the accused priests who have the right - as everyone does - to the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. The Church does not like showcase justice. Norms on sexual abuse have never been understood as a ban on denouncing the crimes to the civil authorities." (I)
* The accusation that the "current Pontiff...when he was prefect of the former Holy Office [was] objectively responsible for a Holy See policy of covering up the facts" is "false and calumnious" (I)
* "Cardinal Ratzinger displayed great wisdom and firmness in handling those cases, also demonstrating great courage in facing some of the most difficult and thorny cases, 'sine acceptione personarum'. Therefore, to accuse the current Pontiff of a cover-up is, I repeat, false and calumnious." (I)
* Number of cases dealt with so far: "Overall in the last nine years (2001-2010) we have considered accusations concerning around three thousand cases of diocesan and religious priests, which refer to crimes committed over the last fifty years", with the majority being homosexual in nature ("about sixty percent of the cases" involved attraction towards adolescents of the same gender). Most of the cases were from the U.S. ("in the years 2003-2004, [U.S. cases] represented around eighty percent of total cases") (I)
* "It must, in fact, be borne in mind that the overall number of diocesan and religious priests in the world is four hundred thousand, although this statistic does not correspond to the perception that is created when these sad cases occupy the front pages of the newspapers." (I)
* A full trial has taken place in only about 20% of cases, in about 60% of the cases "disciplinary provisions have been issued", in other cases, priests have been dismissed from the clerical state (I)
* "In some English-speaking countries, but also in France, if bishops become aware of crimes committed by their priests outside the sacramental seal of Confession, they are obliged to report them to the judicial authorities. This is an onerous duty because the bishops are forced to make a gesture comparable to that of a father denouncing his own son. Nonetheless, our guidance in these cases is to respect the law." (I)
* When bishops do not have the legal obligation to report abuse "we do not force bishops to denounce their own priests, but encourage them to contact the victims and invite them to denounce the priests by whom they have been abused." (I)
* Regarding the statute of limitation of 10 years which was introduced in 2001: "Practice has shown that the limit of ten years is not enough in this kind of case, in which it would be better to return to the earlier system of 'delicta graviora' not being subject to the statue of limitations." Pope John Paul II granted the dicastery the power to revoke the statute of limitations on a "case by case following a reasoned request from individual bishops. And this revocation is normally granted." (I)
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