Pedophilia will be a crime in the canonical code from the Vatican since this Wednesday. On June 1, Pope Francis announced the measure and today it goes into effect. It seeks to toughen the laws against sexual abuse after the recent scandals in the ecclesiastical community.
Keys to the new law against pedophilia
The new amendment defines sexual abuse as “crimes against life, dignity and human freedom“which may lead to expulsion from the clerical state. Likewise, the reform of the Code of Canon Law also raises sanctions against any priest who induces a minor to” participate in pornographic exhibitions “or who has in his possession images of child pornography.
The reform comes after more than a decade of complaints by victims about impunity for these crimes.
Church response
Last October, the Supreme Pontiff declared that the more than 200,000 abuses suffered by priests or religious in France since 1950 was a “shame”. the center of their concerns, “lamented the head of the Vatican.
In this sense, the religious urged the Catholic community to assume responsibilities, make the Church a “safe house for all” and redouble efforts to prevent these “dramas” from happening again.
More than 200 priests denounced
On the other hand, at the end of April this year, for the first time, the Church admitted that it had 220 priests reported for sexual abuse minors for 20 years. According to the report of the Episcopal Conference (CEE), in total, from 2001 to 2021, 144 complaints were reported against priests of the secular clergy and 76 of the regular clergy.
Of the total number of reported cases, 151 were resolved and 69 continue with the open procedure.
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