1997 Vatican Letter Questions Irish Church's Policy of Mandatory Reporting of Sex Abuse To Civil Authorities

The New York Times today reports on a 1997 letter (full text) from the Vatican's Apostolic Nuncio in Ireland to Irish clergy questioning  a document issued by the Irish Catholic Bishops' Advisory Committee on handling of clergy sex abuse claims.  The document titled "Child Sexual Abuse: A Framework for a Church Response" called, among other things, for mandatory reporting of priests suspected of abuse of minors to police or civil authorities.  The Vatican's letter included the following statement:

In particular, the situation of 'mandatory reporting' gives rise to serious reservations of both a moral and a canonical nature.

The letter also cautioned that Canon Law procedures need to be followed strictly in taking action against accused priests. Otherwise hierarchical appeals might overturn the action. Apparently one concern was that the Irish procedures were issued in a "study document" rather than in some kind of more definitive manner.  Abuse victims in Ireland and the United States say the 1997 letter could be important evidence in lawsuits attempting to hold the Vatican liable for abuse committed by local priests. A Vatican spokesman said that Vatican policy changed in 2001 when the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, headed then by the future Pope Benedict XVI, took over handling of sexual abuse concerns.