Timeline the Vatican and Sexual Abuse, CBC News, February 28, 2007

Timeline: the Vatican and Sexual Abuse

CBC News
February 28, 2007

http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/goodfather/vatican.html

1917: Pope Benedict XV enacts the 1917 Code of Canon Law, which lays down the rules and norms of the Catholic Church for the first time.

1922: The Vatican compiles a secret document outlining procedures for dealing with clergy who solicit sex during confession. It is the first time the Vatican offers any legislation for dealing with sexual crimes by clergy.

Then Cardinal Josef Ratzinger writes an offical letter which outlines how the church will deal with sex crimes committed by clergy.

March 16, 1962: The Congregation of the Holy Office, which oversees Catholic doctrine, issues Crimen sollicitationis to a select number of senior Catholic clergy, bishops. They are admonished to keep the document out of the hands of the public.

It lists new procedures for dealing with reports of solicitation of sex in the confession, sexual abuse of minors, sex between priests and bestiality.

Father Tom Doyle , a leading canon law expert in the U.S., says the mere existence of Crimen sollicitationis proves that "the highest Catholic Church authorities were aware of the especially grave nature of clergy sexual crimes."

January 25, 1983: Pope John Paul II enacts the revised Code of Canon Law . It's a complete list of laws and procedures by which the Catholic Church rules itself.

It's split into seven parts and contains more than 1750 articles that cover everything from general norms to how to transfer priests.

None of the articles refers specifically to sexual abuse by clergy.

April 30, 2001: The head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Josef Ratzinger (later, Pope Benedict XIV) writes Sacramentorum sanctitatis tutela. It's an official letter, in Latin and sent to all bishops. It lays out new norms for dealing with "grave canonical crimes" (gravioribus delictis), including certain sex crimes committed by clergy.

May 18: Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith releases De delictis gravioribus. It replaces Crimen sollicitationis. With Sacramentorum sanctitatis tutela, it represents the official procedures to be used in response to allegations of clergy sexual abuse. Father Tom Doyle calls it "the first attempt by the Vatican to take concrete steps to contain the problem."

April 19, 2005: Cardinal Ratzinger becomes Pope Benedict XVI

October 27, 2006: Pope Benedict addresses bishops in Ireland , where a series of abuse scandals has rocked the Catholic Church since 1994.

He says "it is important to establish the truth of what happened in the past, to take whatever steps are necessary to prevent it from occurring again, to ensure that the principles of justice are fully respected and, above all, to bring healing to the victims and to all those affected by these egregious crimes."