--- Begin Message ---
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-vatican-pedophilia0108ja
n08.story?coll=sns%2Dap%2Dnationworld%2Dheadlines
Vatican Moves on Pedophilia Cases
By FRANCES D'EMILIO
Associated Press Writer
January 8, 2002, 3:25 AM EST
VATICAN CITY -- The Vatican has come up with new guidelines for the Roman
Catholic Church to handle pedophilia accusations against priests, ordering
church officials worldwide to inform it swiftly of such cases and declaring
them subject to secrecy.
Promoted by the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the
rules were approved by Pope John Paul II, who in the past has expressed
solidarity with the victims of sexual abuse by clergy.
The guidelines, which are apparently aimed at centralizing Vatican control
over such cases, are intended for use by Catholic dioceses and religious
institutions and do not apply to government inquiries or prosecutions.
Written in Latin and prepared several months ago, the church rules were
quietly published in the Holy See's official gazette. They surfaced Tuesday
in the newly printed 2001 yearbook of Vatican documents.
Pedophilia cases have been a major headache for the Catholic church. Besides
the sting of moral scandal, dioceses in the United States and other
countries have had to deal with expensive claims for financial damages.
The new guidelines came as a letter by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, a close
aide of John Paul and the guardian of doctrinal orthodoxy.
He wrote that pedophile cases were subject to pontifical secrecy. Only
priests should handle such cases, including those serving as judges,
prosecutor or defense advocate in church tribunals.
He also said victims must make their accusations within 10 years after
turning 18.
The Vatican urged local church officials to act swiftly where there is "at
least probable knowledge of a grave crime."
The letter didn't spell out what sanctions could be taken against priests
suspected or proven of being pedophiles, but their removal from the clerical
ranks is a possibility.
In 1994, at the request of U.S. church officials, the Vatican approved
policy for handling pedophilia cases in the United States. The 2001 policy
"incorporates the major points" of the American policy, said a spokesman for
the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Monsignor Francis Maniscalco.
Copyright © 2002, The Associated Press
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
FREE COLLEGE MONEY
CLICK HERE to search
600,000 scholarships!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/vf6MrB/4m7CAA/ySSFAA/TySplB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->
===============================================================
SPY NEWS is OSINT newsletter and discussion list associated to
Mario's Cyberspace Station http://mprofaca.cro.net/mainmenu.html
===============================================================
*** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been
specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Spy News is making it available
without profit to SPY NEWS eGroup members who have expressed a prior interest in
receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of
intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques,
human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues,
for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this
constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of
the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of
your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright
owner.
For more information go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
-----------------------------------------------
SPY NEWS home page:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/spynews
To change your subscription mode to Daily Digest
(one message a day) send a blank message:
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Please note that replying to THIS e-mail
will not remove you from the mailing list.
To unsubscribe SPYNEWS send a blank message:
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Mario Profaca
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
--- End Message ---
