Go, and report child rape no more


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.

Comments

  1. unbound says

    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

  2. says

    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”.

  3. Musca Domestica says

    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.

  4. Loqi says

    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.

  5. aziraphale says

    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.

  6. mnb0 says

    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?

  7. says

    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.

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