The dome of St. Peter’s Basilica. / Luxerendering/Shutterstock.
CNA Staff, May 11, 2021 / 09:00 am (CNA).
The Vatican has told the bishops of England and Wales that it is amending the Code of Canon Law so that “crimes against minors are considered under a different title than crimes against the obligations of celibacy on the part of clerics.”
The Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts shared the information in a letter dated April 19, responding to the English and Welsh bishops’ request for adjustments to canon law concerning clerical sexual abuse.
In the letter, addressed to bishops’ conference president Cardinal Vincent Nichols, it said: “After review of the information and recommendation Your Eminence submitted to this Pontifical Council, I am pleased to inform you that the concerns you have expressed have already been taken into consideration in the revision of Book VI of the 1983 CIC [Code of Canon Law], which is currently in process.”
“In the revised Book VI of the 1983 CIC, crimes against minors are considered under a different title than crimes against the obligations of celibacy on the part of clerics. The revised title will be ‘Crimes against the life, dignity and freedom of man’ and will include a canon that is specific to crimes against minors.”
The letter, received by Nichols on April 23, was signed by the Pontifical Council’s president Archbishop Filippo Iannone and secretary Bishop Juan Ignacio Arrieta.
The English and Welsh bishops made their request to the Vatican in a letter dated March 15.
The correspondence between the bishops and the Vatican was published on the bishops’ website on May 9. It was included in a 21-page document detailing how the Catholic Church has responded to the seven recommendations of a highly critical independent report on child abuse within the Church in England and Wales.
In the report, published on Nov. 10, 2020, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) urged the bishops to “request that the Holy See redraft the canonical crimes relating to child sexual abuse as crimes against the child.”
The recommendation related to Canon 1395 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law.
Under the subheading “Delicts against special obligations,” the second part of the canon says: “A cleric who in another way has committed an offense against the sixth commandment of the Decalogue, if the delict was committed by force or threats or publicly or with a minor below the age of sixteen years, is to be punished with just penalties, not excluding dismissal from the clerical state if the case so warrants.”
The English and Welsh bishops raised detailed concerns about the phrase “against the sixth commandment” — “contra sextum” in Latin — in their letter to the Vatican.
The letter, signed by Cardinal Nichols and bishops’ conference general secretary Canon Christopher Thomas, said that while the term “contra sextum” was part of canonical tradition, “it is no longer adequate to meet the demands of a contemporary canonical approach to sexual offenses against minors and their equivalent in law.”
The bishops suggested that the term was difficult to reconcile with other aspects of canon law, was only recently used by the Eastern Catholic Churches, and was a source of confusion for civil authorities.
Referring to a vademecum “on certain points of procedure in treating cases of sexual abuse of minors committed by clerics,” issued by the Vatican last year, the letter said: “It seems reasonable that the categories delineated in Section I of the Vademecum of 16 July 2020 could be used to formulate a delict [a crime in canon law] without making use of the term ‘contra sextum.’”
“The Bishops’ Conference feels that this would be a significant step to rectifying the very real problems and consequent misunderstandings that its officers are faced with when engaging with colleagues in the civil authorities.”
The English and Welsh bishops also asked that the “reformulated delict” be placed “into a discrete category of offenses against minors, and their equivalents in law, and their dignity.”
In their 21-page document, the bishops outlined how they were responding to IICSA’s six other recommendations, which included mandatory safeguarding training for those working with children or abuse victims and the publication of a national complaints policy related to safeguarding cases.
The document, dated April 30, was prepared by the Catholic Council for the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.
In an introduction to the text, council chair Nuala O’Loan, wrote: “The Catholic Church is committed to this work and will continue to develop its structures and processes so that the Church is a safe place for all who worship in, or engage in any way with, it.”
“This report marks a significant step on the continuous journey of improvement.”
[…]
“Peter’s Pence is the Holy See’s annual collection to finance the pope’s charitable works and other priorities, including the Roman Curia.”
The quote, sans rhyme, implies reason for an intellect remaining open.
One notes a cause for thanks and praise due the Vatican: It expects a 2022 deficit of only 37 US million. A mere pittance.
As a note on the convoluted tangle of worldly with clerical events, we might recall that the Peter’s Pence collection began as a funding source for the construction of St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome (recently inhabited by Pachamama!). But, when conveyance of these funds from Germany to Rome was blocked by the emerging German nation-state, a more aggressive local sale of indulgences resulted, igniting the explosive ecclesial grievances of one Martin Luther.
And, today, we witness the continuing turmoil in Germany, far beyond anything even Luther imagined, where failure to pay the state’s church-tax (!) is branded as “apostasy” (!!) and is cause for automatic excommunication (!!!). No sacraments for disloyal peasants!
Meanwhile, what’s left of the Church in Germany (many intend a German Church awash in rising funds even as membership erodes year by year), there’s this post-Luther thingy called the German “synodal way”—which history will record as the drop of cyanide in the punchbowl called the global Synod on Synodality.
Moreover, the corrupted tin-cup marketing of indulgences in the 16th century by a priest named Tetzel pales in significance compared to the mass-media marketing corruption of a priest named James Martin, and his tribe of other enablers, and worse, now metastasized throughout all echelons of clericalism.
Since 2015, is the sorry slide in Peter’s Pence charitable collections due only to COVID lockdowns?
First priority of the clerical movers and shakers in charge is to keep the money flowing.
-Guerrero states regarding the decline in Peter’s Pence revenues,
“This should make us think about other methods of soliciting the help of the faithful and receiving donations.”
-Fr.Thomas Reese when he speaks of diocesan offices applying for grants during the Covid lockdown at https://www.ncronline.org/news/coronavirus/signs-times/yes-catholic-church-benefitted-federal-ppp-loans-good-them.
“The Catholic Church was simply very good at jumping through the bureaucratic hoops required to get a PPP loan. Diocesan finance offices proved to be very competent. Good for them.
Likewise, the hierarchy is “simply very good” at and proving “very competent” at wrecking architecture, ignoring liturgical protocol, facilitating sexual sins and endorsing sacrilege.
I thought first priority should be praying and making sacrifice for the sins of their flocks – concern for the salvation of souls.
Just wondering if it has ever occurred to Guerrero, Reese, Cupich, Marx, Bergolio, Dolan and their ilk, that the dear faithful are coming to realize that the care and salvation of souls is not even on the radar of the shepherds at large. In other words, the little ones on the peripheries are wising up, so we’ll have to look for revenues elsewhere and hold forth with the New Synodal Way.
I think decline in Peters Pence funds has not much to do with the lowly virus, as the little flocks have always been a generous lot and would have found other ways to contribute to the PP collection.
Today the Church should be conducting a root cause analysis; “The decrease in 2021 is in addition to the 23% decrease between 2015 and 2019 and the 18% decrease in 2020, the first year of the pandemic.”
Considering the absolute trainwreck that is the Francis Pontificate, with it’s nonstop doctrinal confusion, attacks on the laity, and scandals involving financial corruption and sexual abuse, not to mention the closure of Churches during the Lockdowns, my only surprise is it didn’t fall further than 15%.
Though government and ‘other’contributions no doubt more than made up for the decline