Znowelizowane powszechne przepisy prawa kanonicznego dotyczące ochrony małoletnich przed przestępstwami seksualnymi
Revised General Canon Law on the Protection of Minors Against Sexual Abuse

Summary/Abstract: The response of the Church community to reports of sexual abuse committed by some clergy against minors is one of the tests of fidelity to the teaching of Jesus Christ. Effective protection of the weakest and most vulnerable demands, first of all, good legislation, and not only in the form of procedural laws to punish the perpetrators of crimes, but also in the form of substantive laws defining the various types of the delict contra sextum and the scope of protection against it. The need to expand the scope of substantive laws against sexual abuse was already pointed out by Pope John Paul II and subsequent legislators have amended the substantive provisions on the protection of children and adolescents, especially by expanding the scope of protected persons and criminalizing the acts of producing, possessing and distributing pornographic materials containing images of minors. The current substantive provisions on the abuse contra sextum are found in three general laws: the 2021 revised Code of Canon Law, the motu proprio Sacramentorum sanctitatis tutela specifying delicta graviora, and the motu proprio Vos estis lux mundi (currently at the consultation stage during the revision process). In addition, these provisions are present in version 2.0 of the Vademecum of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, which serves, though not statutory in nature, as a handbook for bishop ordinaries and those involved in the processing of cases involving accusations of sexual abuse. However, an analysis of the current legislation leads to the conclusion that in these laws some discrepancies arise both in terms of the substantive scope of the delict contra sextum, as well as with regard the persons protected and the entities capable of committing such abuse. The noticeable differences may cause difficulties in the application of the law, and thus reduce the effectiveness of the protection of minors and persons who habitually has the imperfect use of reason. Therefore, it seems necessary to unify the provisions, which will dispel emerging interpretative doubts.

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