Vatican Toughens Rules on Abuse Cases
da: The Wall Street Journal
The Vatican tightened its rules for disciplining cases of alleged sexual abuse, marking the first time it has changed church laws to address the sexual-abuse scandal that has opened Pope Benedict XVI to widespread scrutiny over his handling of abuse cases.
The new measures didn’t quell accusations that Vatican policies have fostered coverups of sexual abuse by those within church ranks.
Officials inside the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican’s office in charge of disciplining abusive priests, also are weighing whether to issue additional guidelines advising bishops on best practices in reporting alleged cases to civil authorities and taking measures to prevent abuse, according to people familiar with the matter.
A draft of those guidelines is months away from completion and might never be approved, one of the people said, and the Vatican is…
