Rome: Pope Francis lifted the secrecy requirement for Catholic Church documents related to priests’ sexual abuse of minors, granting a longstanding demand from activists who say it will help civil authorities gather evidence against abusers in the church.
In a decree published by the Vatican Tuesday, the pope ruled that the “pontifical secret” binding church officials to confidentiality doesn’t apply to evidence and legal proceedings regarding clerical sex abuse or its coverup.
“Office confidentiality shall not prevent the fulfillment of the obligations laid down in all places by civil laws, including any reporting obligations, and the execution of enforceable requests of civil judicial authorities,” said the decree, which Pope Francis approved earlier this month.
Also on Tuesday, the Vatican announced that the pope had redefined child pornography under church law to apply to images of minors up to the age of 18, up from 14 under previous legislation.
The Vatican welcomed the historic change on the 83rd birthday of Pope Francis on Tuesday.
(Inputs include from Wall Street Journal)
