Zenit reported yesterday that the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has instructed each country's Conference of Bishops to develop guidelines for dealing with sexual abuse of minors by clergy or members of religious orders. In order to assist, the Vatican has released a
Circular Letter that sets out suggested principles that should be reflected in these guidelines. An
Introduction to the Abuse Guidelines by Cardinal Levada gives Bishops a May 2012 deadline for the submitting their guidelines to the Vatican. A
summary of the Vatican's actions was also released by the Vatican Press Office. The Circular Letter suggests in part, the following principles:
The Church, in the person of the Bishop or his delegate, should be prepared to listen to the victims and their families, and to be committed to their spiritual and psychological assistance....
The accused cleric is presumed innocent until the contrary is proven.
Nonetheless the bishop is always able to limit the exercise of the cleric’s ministry until the accusations are clarified. If the case so warrants, whatever measures can be taken to rehabilitate the good name of a cleric wrongly accused should be done
.... Sexual abuse of minors is not just a canonical delict but also a crime prosecuted by civil law. Although relations with civil authority will differ in various countries, nevertheless it is important to cooperate with such authority within their responsibilities. Specifically, without prejudice to the sacramental internal forum, the prescriptions of civil law regarding the reporting of such crimes to the designated authority should always be followed. This collaboration, moreover, not only concerns cases of abuse committed by clerics, but also those cases which involve religious or lay persons who function in ecclesiastical structures.
