A clause against abuse
Vatican gets new constitution
3/19/2022 3:36 p.m
The Pope gives the Papal States a new constitution. Although several cardinals have been working on the reform work for more than ten years, the step comes suddenly. A paragraph is also dedicated to the topic of “sexual abuse”. Francis will comment on the new Basic Law on Monday.
The Vatican has surprisingly published a new basic law that has been expected for years, with which Pope Francis wants to reform the administrative apparatus of the Holy See. The Holy See announced that this new Apostolic Constitution, called the “Predicate Gospel,” will come into force on June 5 of this year. On this day, the previously valid constitution will be repealed and the reform process of the Roman Curia will be completed. The Vatican initially left the publication uncommented and announced a press conference for Monday.
With the reform, Francis is repealing the old constitution “Pastor Bonus”, which Pope John Paul II issued in 1988 and which today’s Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. later changed in 2011. A panel of several cardinals has been working on the reform since 2013. The reform-minded Francis, who celebrated the ninth anniversary of his inauguration over the weekend, installed the advisory body for the restructuring of the Curia after his appointment.
“Find strategies to protect against sexual abuse”
The new constitution consists of 250 articles, which concern the dicasteries – something like the ministries of the Holy See – and other offices. Simply put, the Curia should place itself more at the service of the local Churches. The reform should also promote a more effective spread of the faith and stimulate a more constructive dialogue, Pope Francis wrote in the foreword.
The constitution also includes a paragraph on the subject of sexual abuse. The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors should support bishops and bishops’ conferences in developing strategies to protect minors from sexual abuse, it said in the section on the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, to which cases of abuse in the Church must be reported. In addition, the commission should find appropriate answers in the case of abuse, for example by clerics, in accordance with canon and civil law.