After almost four years of experimentation, Pope Francis promulgates procedures to prevent and combat the phenomenon of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church. The new version of the motu proprio ‘Vos estis lux mundi’ was published today and will enter into force on 30 April. The most significant novelty is represented by the extension of the norms concerning the responsibility of bishops and religious also to the laity and in particular “those who are or have been supreme moderators of institutes of consecrated life or societies of apostolic life of pontifical right, as well as Monasteries sui iuris, for acts committed during munere” and “lay faithful who are or have been Moderators of international associations of the faithful recognized or erected by the Apostolic See, for acts committed during munere”.
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The new provisions repeal the previous ones, which date back to 2019, reaffirming the will to continue the fight against abuse and, in reference to the victims, in addition to minors, it indicates “any person in a state of infirmity, physical or mental deficiency, or of deprivation of personal freedom which in fact, even occasionally, limits the ability to understand or want or in any case to resist the offence”.
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The document explains the investigation procedure, according to which “the Metropolitan who receives the report asks the competent Dicastery without delay for the task of starting the investigation”. Subsequently, “the Dicastery provides promptly and in any case within thirty days of receipt of the first report”. The Metropolitan, once he has obtained the assignment from the competent Dicastery “personally or through one or more suitable persons, collects the relevant information regarding the facts; accesses the information and documents necessary for the purposes of the investigation kept in the archives of the ecclesiastical offices; obtains the collaboration of other Ordinaries or Hierarchs, where necessary; requests information, if it deems it appropriate and in compliance with the provisions, from people and institutions, including civil ones, that are able to provide useful elements for the investigation”. “These rules – concludes the deed – apply without prejudice to the rights and obligations established in every place by state laws, particularly those concerning any reporting obligations to the competent civil authorities”.