Pope Francis has updated a 2019 church law governing clerical sexual abuse and extended it to Catholic lay leaders of Vatican-approved religious organizations.
Lay leaders are people who are not members of the clergy but who are on the professional staff of the church. The norms were first defined by Francis in an apostolic letter, Vos estis lux mundi, in 2019, and were originally established for a four-year period.
Francis has now made minor changes to that document and made it permanent, effective April 30, according to a document released by the Vatican on Saturday.
For decades, the Catholic Church has been plagued by a series of sexual abuse scandals in countries around the world.
The new norms represent Pope Francis’ promise to offer “concrete measures” to combat sexual abuse.
One of the changes includes provisions to hold lay leaders of Vatican-approved associations accountable for covering up sexual abuse. The norms previously concerned only bishops and religious superiors.
Another change involves the definition of victims of abuse, which previously referred to “minors and vulnerable persons”. The updated document now specifies “a minor, or with a person who has a habitually imperfect use of reason, or with a vulnerable adult”.
Source: CNN Brasil
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