Response to and Prevention of Clerical Sexual Misconduct - Current Praxis - Bishop Charles Scicluna

Sep 21, 2026

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The text presents Bishop Charles Scicluna’s remarks on responding to and preventing clerical sexual misconduct. It emphasizes that serious flaws in local church responses stem from disregarding the rule of law and the demands of justice, including avoiding a “limbo” state for accused priests. It outlines the Vatican’s norms under the 2001 motu proprio Sacramentorum Sanctitatis Tutela, detailing confidential handling, reporting duties for probable cases involving minors, and the need for due process grounded in the truth.

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Response to and Prevention of Clerical Sexual Misconduct: Current Praxis

Contribution of the Motu Proprio

7.c乙ic】 …)73))!)1L2(4 “Only the truth will set us free tobe of service to the church.Anyattitude that covers up the truth isour enemy.” Detroit,MI 4822-5 CNS documentary serVice ■■ Doctrine of the Faith,handling cases broughtagainst clergy accused of the sexual abuse ofminors.He said that when a priest is accusedof sexual abuse it is important to avoid astate of "limbo,"where the priest is placedon administrative leave but the diocese orthe doctrinal congregation takes no furtheraction.He called this state “an abuse of thesystem and a denial of the right to due pro-cess."Bishop Scicluna also said there needsto be clarity when an abusive cleric is madeto live a life of"prayer and penance,"as theterm can mean different things in differentdioceses.He said,"Ifwe want words to meanwhat they are meant to mean,then a com-fortable life on a golf course is definitely notwhat the words 'prayer and penance'mean."He said Pope Francis'well-documented focuson mercy toward sinners does not meanthe church will soften its stance on abusivepriests."The mercy Pope Francis preaches isno easy mercy,"he said.“Mercy may indeedseason justice...but true mercy will never doaway with justice."Bishop Scicluna's speechfollows. Response to andPrevention ofClerical SexualMisconduct:Current Praxis Bishop Scicluna y way of introduction to mytopic,I would like to offer somepreliminary points for ourreflection: "Most of the serious flaws in the responseof the local churches to the cases of sexualmisconduct derive from the disregard forthe rule of law and the demands of jus-tice,"the Vatican's former top investigatorof abusive priests said.Auxiliary BishopCharles Scicluna of Malta spoke Sept.29 atthe annual meeting of the Canon Law Societyof America in Sacramento,Calif.The bishopserved for a decade as the Vatican's first pro-moter of justice in the Congregation for the —Humility:a priesthood of sinners:Thevery sad experience of having to deal withthe public outrage and the consequentshame over the revelations of cases of sex-ual misconduct by clergy to the detrimentof minors will hopefully help us become contents 357 Response to andPrevention of ClericalSexual Misconduct:Current Praxisby Bishop Charles Scicluna365Civil Remarriage and theSacraments by Archbishop Gerhard L.Müller370 Speech to Familiesby Pope Francis372 Datebook372 On File November 7,2013 Volume 43 Number 23 The apostolic letter"Sacramentorum SanctitatisTutela"tlhat Blessed JolinPaulll issued"motu proprio"(on his own initiative)in2001 was released at the timeonly iu Latin.The Vaticanhas since translated it intoItalian and Portuguese butuot English. The letter revieved some aspects of the history of church law to explain why certain cases wonld tliereafter be reserved to the Congregation for the Doctrine of tlre Faith. The pope said the norns tlatwent aloug with the apostolicletter are divided into twoparts,those dealing with thecrime's substauce and tliosedealiug with proceduralmatters.The norms tluem-selves were not published atthe time,and Vaticau sourcessaid the norms would be sentto local bislhops ou a case-by-case basis. However,the urorins werediscussed and explained in aletter to tlie world's bishopsand heads of religious ordersby tlre doctrinal congrega-tion.Anuofficial transla-tion of that letter,dated May 18,2001,was obtained byCatholic News Service. The letter said the new normsreflect tlre doctrinal congre-gation's traditional“exclusivecompeteuce"regarding graveroffenses.The doctriual con-gregation's letter explaiuedthat the new norms requirelocal bishops to report to thecongregation probable casesof sexual abuse by clergyagainst minors. The doctrinal congregationthen could allow a local dio-cese to handle the case underthe uew rules or the congre-gation could take up the casein its own tribunal.The letteriudicated that these caseswould be landled in strictconfidentiality by an all-clerical court.The letter saidtlhe norms consi

FAQs

What does Bishop Scicluna say about “limbo” for accused priests?

He says it is important to avoid a “limbo” situation where a priest is placed on administrative leave but no further action is taken.

How does the text describe the link between mercy and justice?

It states that mercy is not “easy mercy” and that true mercy will never do away with justice; both depend on the truth of wrongs committed.

What do Vatican norms under Sacramentorum Sanctitatis Tutela require regarding cases involving minors?

They require local bishops to report probable cases of sexual abuse by clergy against minors and outline confidential handling and possible transfer to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Sep 21, 2026

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