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	Vatican Says Bishops Should Report Sex Abuse ...but Nobody Is Obliged to Report Sex Abuse under Maltese Law By Francesca Vella Malta Independent April 18, 2010 http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=104768 Despite a new Vatican policy that makes it clear that child sexual abuse cases should be reported to the police if required by law, it is clear that this policy will not change much in Malta, since "Maltese law does not oblige anyone to report such cases", as Mgr Charles Scicluna, the Promoter of Justice in the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, confirmed on Friday. In an interview with Xarabank host Peppi Azzopardi on Friday, Mgr Scicluna said: "The Maltese Church follows the laws of the country… this is a very clear policy, even at the level of the Holy See. "Maltese law does not oblige anyone to report cases of abuse of minors, but victims have the right to report their case to the police." He went on to explain that the Church has a clear policy in this regard: it has the duty to inform victims about this right, and it is also duty-bound to cooperate in full with the victims and provide all the help they may need. "Under Maltese law, victims have a choice. The Church is, however, duty-bound to help them," insisted Mgr Scicluna. He said he recently spoke to a bishop, who said the country he is in requires the clergy to report child sex abuse cases to the police. "This particular bishop said that from his experience, when victims of sex abuse take their case to court, they go through hell all over again." Mgr Scicluna said that it is therefore important for victims to have a choice as to whether they want to report their case or not. He said the Vatican receives 300 complaints of sex abuse cases a year (there are 400,000 Catholic priests all around the world). The monsignor explained that cases are first investigated at diocese level, and if minors are involved, the cases are also reported to the Vatican. The new policy, which was published by the Vatican a few days ago, was issued in response to claims of cover-ups of sexual abuse cases by the Church. It is the first time that the Vatican has issued such clear guidelines regarding the reporting of cases, but critics said the policy falls short of US norms, where priests facing sex abuse allegations are not allowed to continue working in the Church until the claims have been investigated. However, it was unclear what enforcement mechanism the guidelines published on Monday might have. They are just that – guidelines – and not an official instruction to bishops from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In addition, the guidelines make it clear that bishops are to report 'crimes' – not just allegations. In 2002, after the clerical abuse scandal erupted in the United States, American bishops enacted reforms instructing bishops to comply with state laws for reporting abuse, and to cooperate with the authorities. All US dioceses were also instructed to advise victims of their right to contact the authorities themselves. Monday's document fell far short of US norms, considered as best practice by victim support groups. That policy, approved by the Vatican as Church law in the US, bars credibly accused priests from any public church work while the allegations are investigated. Diocesan review boards, comprised mostly of lay people, help bishops oversee cases. Clergy found guilty are permanently barred from public ministry and, in some cases, removed from the priesthood. In a letter to the Irish faithful last month, Pope Benedict XVI told Irish bishops they should cooperate with civil authorities in investigating abuse. However, this is the first time the Vatican has issued a guideline for the church as a whole. None of the core public Vatican documents that address the handling of abuse instruct bishops to report cases to the police. Nor does canon law contain such an explicit requirement.
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