Pope says canon law offers ‘important step’ towards combating abuse

Pope Francis on Friday called for a strict application of canon law to combat abuse in the Catholic Church.

“The Church, with the help of God, is pushing forward with the commitment to do justice to the victims of abuse by our members by applying with special attention and rigour the canon law provided,” Francis said.

He made the comments at the Apostolic Palace when he received representatives of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican authority that deals with abuse.

Francis pointed to recent reforms which make it easier to hold abusers in the Church accountable.

“This alone cannot be enough to curb the phenomenon, but it is an important step towards restoring justice, making amends for the scandal, and changing a perpetrator,” the 85-year-old pontiff said.

Earlier, Pope Francis ordered big changes in how the Catholic Church deals with clerical sex abuse of children.

He ushered in more transparency by lifting what’s known as the rule of pontifical secrecy.

Some churches however invoked that rule in denying victims and law enforcement access to information about their cases.

In accordance with the pope’s ruling, information on abuse cases must be protected by church leaders to ensure its security and integrity.

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Adding that the high degree of confidentiality imposed by pontifical secrecy no longer applies.

Archbishop Charles Scicluna told Vatican Media that Pope Francis’ lifting of the secrecy seal opens up avenues of communication with victims and facilitates collaboration with civilian authorities.

In another ruling, Pope Francis raised from 14 to 18 the age that pictures of individuals can be considered child pornography for purposes of sexual gratification by whatever means or using whatever technology. (dpa/NAN)