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	Pope Issues New Guidelines to Tackle Child Sexual Abuse Cases Rtt News May 17, 2011 http://www.rttnews.com/Content/GeneralNews.aspx?Id=1625492&SM=1 (RTTNews) - Pope Benedict XVI on Monday issued new guidelines to bishops across the world for handling all suspected cases of sexual abuse of minors by members of the clergy, including the reporting of all such cases to the local police. The new guidelines are part of efforts initiated by the Vatican to eradicate child sex abuse by clergy members of the Roman Catholic Church. The measures, outlined in a letter sent to bishops around the globe on Monday, requires reports on action taken against such cases to be sent to Vatican for review within a year. "Sex abuse of minors is not just a canonical delict [crime], but also a crime prosecuted by civil law," the letter stated, adding that local civil law "should always be followed" in dealing with such reported cases. "The responsibility for dealing with crimes of sexual abuse of minors by clerics belongs in the first place to the diocesan bishop," it said. The letter directs bishops to take immediate steps to "protect minors and to help victims in finding assistance and reconciliation." The letter also asks bishops to notify the authorities regarding a suspected pedophile priest in the future, stressing that clergy should be "helped to recognize the potential signs of abuse" and that the priests suspected of pedophilia should be suspended "until the accusation is clarified". The development comes amidst damages caused to Catholic Churches in several countries, including Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, Ireland and the United States, by sexual abuse scandals involving members of the clergy in recent months. Many of these nations have initiated independent probes into sex-abuse claims. The scandals have already forced several bishops in several countries to step down. In the wake of those scandals, the Vatican had said earlier that it plans to take steps towards bringing clerical child abusers to justice.
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