For many centuries the Catholic Church has insisted that the Canon law that governs the conduct of all within the church takes precedence over civil law in whatever country this applies. Until now, Canon law imposes a requirement of secrecy when priests are accused of sexual misconduct with children. Canon law specifically imposes a veil of " pontifical secrecy " on abuse related accusations, trials and decisions.
That has been widely used to stifle civil law investigations of sexual assault involving children. The most severe punishment the church can impose is for the offending priest to be defrocked and dismissed from the clerical state. In reality such priests were simply moved to another diocese where they were often discovered to reoffend.
The Catholic Church has come under intense criticism in many parts of the world over its inaction in stamping out paedophilia. Now 83 year old Pope Francis has abolished that " pontifical secrecy " requirement of canon law.
Under this new structure the Vatican still does not mandate reporting such crimes to the police, saying religious supervisors are obliged to do so where civil reporting laws require it. It is a vast step in the right direction because it has removed the mechanism of division between canon and civil law that church officials so readily used to impose secrecy wherever paedophilia surfaced.
Another aspect of canon law that has been changed is the age at which the Vatican considers pornographic images of children to constitute child pornography. This has been raised from fourteen to eighteen and as such it now meshes consistently with civil law.
For too long the Catholic church has virtually ignored sexual deviation within its ranks. The good name of the church has taken precedence over the welfare of the victims and this has resulted in both police and the legal establishment being prevented from bringing offenders to justice. The harm paedophilia imposes is ongoing as illustrated by the age of victims seeking redress in the courts.
We live in an ever changing world in which the church finds itself straddling two societies. In the west old shibboleths that governed homosexuality and same sex marriage have changed the social order in ways that would have been unimaginable half a century ago, and yet in emerging societies there remains an ingrained conservatism that rejects such innovation.
Pope Francis has applied wisdom in dealing with conflicting ideologies but is finally coming to terms with paedophilia within the church's own ranks.
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