Vatican Herald - Catholic News and Information

Vatican: Report sex abuse crimes

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican on responded Monday to allegations it long concealed clerical sex abuse by making it clear for the first time that bishops and clerics worldwide should report such crimes to police if they are required to by law.

The policy, spelled out in a guide for laymen and posted on the Vatican's Web site, matches the policy worked out by U.S. bishops after an explosion of sex abuse cases in 2002.

Unlike the American norms, however, the Vatican guide contains no call for "zero tolerance" for priests who rape and molest children, and victims immediately criticized it as insufficient.

The Vatican insists it has long been the Catholic Church's policy for bishops, like all Christians, to obey civil reporting laws. But such an explicit policy had never been spelled out - until Monday.

"Civil law concerning reporting of crimes to the appropriate authorities should always be followed," said the newly posted guideline.

That phrase was not included in a draft of the document obtained Friday by The Associated Press. The Vatican offered no explanation for the addition. However, Pope Benedict XVI has come under increasing pressure to show the Vatican is serious about confronting clerical abuse and cracking do



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