Good to see the Catholic church learning (however slowly) from its mistakes.
The Italian Bishop’s Conference (CIE) has issued guidelines on child protection that inform its bishops that they are ‘not obliged to report illicit facts’ of child abuse to the police.
…
In their new five page document which advised Italian Bishops on how to deal with paedophilia they failed to focus on one of the most important and obvious means of combating the crime – informing police authorities.
Instead the document read: “Under Italian law, the bishop, given that he holds no public office nor is he a public servant, is not obliged to report illicit facts of the type covered by this document to the relevant state judicial authorities.”
Not learning from their mistakes after all, then.
Got moral issues with seeing the child rape occurring in the church? No worries, the church will just make sure that you don’t see it anymore.
/sigh
Vatican apologist in 30 years time:
“Yes, it’s all very well saying that now, but you can’t judge them by modern standards. Things were different in the twenty-tens”.
The Catholic Church pays taxes in Italy, then? I think that’s the only way to really be “private”. If you are an organization, the rules are different. At least that’s how I look at the issue.
What the Hell do they mean by “illicit facts?”
The google ad I got on the linked site was amusing:
Looking for Child Abuse?
Find child abuse professionals fast and efficient.
No need, Google. If I were looking for child abusers, i’d know just where to go. Look for crosses and stained glass, and talk to the man in white robes.
The concept of “accessory after the fact” exists in Italian law. As I understand it, everyone has a duty not to help conceal a crime of which they are aware. Even bishops.
I’d like to have a better source than a newspaper from Northern-Ireland. Alas the article itself doesn’t provide it. There is no link on the site of SNAP either. Where can I find that five page document?
@mnb0: SNAP’s site points to this which appears to be a reprint of this from a Catholic news site in the US. It looks like the original text may not have been released online but only at the press conference – or else is behind a language barrier.
I disagree, Ophelia, with the notion that the Church isn’t learning from its mistakes. I think they’ve merely decided that being honest was a mistake.