Pope revises Church law, expands rules on sexual abuse
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[June 01, 2021]
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -Pope Francis
on Tuesday issued the most sweeping revision to Catholic Church law in
four decades, toughening regulations for clerics who abuse minors and
vulnerable adults, commit fraud or ordain women.
The revision, which has been in the works since 2009, involves all of
section six of the Church's Code of Canon Law, a seven-book code of
about 1,750 articles. It is the most extensive revision since the
current code was approved by Pope John Paul in 1983.
The pope reminded bishops that they were responsible for following the
letter of the law and that one aim of the revisions was to "reduce the
number of cases in which the imposition of a penalty was left to the
discretion of authorities".

The new section, involving about 80 articles concerning crime and
punishment, incorporates some changes made to Church law since 1983 by
the popes and introduces new categories.
Monsignor Filippo Iannone, head of the Vatican department that oversaw
the project, said there had been "a climate of excessive slack in the
interpretation of penal law," where mercy was sometimes put before
justice.
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Pope Francis leads Holy Rosary prayer in Vatican gardens to end the
month of May, at the Vatican, May 31, 2021. Filippo Monteforte/Pool
via REUTERS

Sexual abuse of minors was put under a new section
titled "Offences Against Human Life, Dignity and Liberty," instead
of the previously vague "Crimes Against Special Obligations".
That section was expanded to include new crimes such as "grooming"
minors or vulnerable adults for sexual abuse and possessing child
pornography.
(Reporting by Philip Pullella;Editing by Andrew Cawthorne and
Bernadette Baum)
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