NEW: Pope Francis abolishes “pontifical secret” used in clergy sexual abuse cases, responding to mounting criticism that the high degree of confidentiality has been used to protect pedophiles, silence victims and prevent police from investigating crimes.
However, such secrecy also served to keep the scandal hidden, prevent law enforcement from accessing documents and silence victims, many of whom often believed that “pontifical secret” prevented them from going to the police to report their priestly abusers.
But it goes further than the Vatican has gone before, saying: “Office confidentiality shall not prevent the fulfillment of the obligations laid down in all places by civil laws, including any reporting obligations, and the execution of enforceable requests of civil judicial authorities.” “The freedom of information to statutory authorities and to victims is something that is being facilitated by this new law," Scicluna told Vatican media.
Individual abuse scandals, national inquiries, grand jury investigations, U.N. denunciations and increasingly costly civil litigation have devastated the Catholic hierarchy’s credibility across the globe, and Francis’ own failures and missteps in dealing with particular cases have emboldened his critics.
The Vatican's editorial director, Andrea Tornielli, said the new law is a “historical" follow-up to the February summit and a sign of openness and transparency.
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