The Obligation of the Bishop to Implement the Requirements of Justice Regarding the Abuse of Minors and Vulnerable by Clerics in His Diocese

Abstract

The diocesan bishop has the irrevocable canonical responsibility, obligation and commitment in implementing the requirements of justice regarding the abuse of minors and the vulnerable by clerics in his diocese. Two years after the first edition, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith published a second version of the “Vademecum on Certain Points of Procedure in Treating Cases of Sexual Abuse of Minors Committed by Clerics” on 27 June 2022. The aforementioned Dicastery announced in a statement that the new version will build upon the 2020 Vademecum developed by the Dicastery to assist bishops, or any person in authority, with guidelines explaining what they need to know and what they need to do in various situations in which a cleric is accused of sexual crimes against minors. According to the Dicastery, “the text, which does not have the force of law, is intended to respond to a growing need for knowledge of the praxis in treating the situations described above by those who are called to take part in various procedural roles.” The creation of the July 2020 Vademecum was one of the objectives of the February 2019 Meeting on protecting minors. For that encounter, Pope Francis invited all the presidents of the world’s Bishops’ Conferences to Rome for an unprecedented gathering to combat abuse and better protect young and vulnerable people. Since its circulation, the first edition, the Dicastery points out, helped to standardize practice, train practitioners, and resolve issues that did not always find an adequate answer in the legal texts themselves. This research attempts to enlighten the bishops, priests, and lay faithful on these requirements of justice regarding the abuse of minors and the vulnerable by clerics in a diocese.

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