VATICAN CITY
Wall Street Journal
By JAVIER MARTÍNEZ-BROCAL and ADAM O’NEAL
March 31, 2016
Mercy has been the animating force of Pope Francis’ three-year pontificate. And the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, which the Catholic Church has been celebrating since December, is the greatest expression of the pope’s interest. Millions of Catholics are taking the opportunity to renew their faith and receive plenary indulgences during what Francis has called “a true moment of encounter with the mercy of God.”
Vatican City’s judicial system, however, is not taking the year off. Msgr. Lucio Ángel Vallejo Balda has spent the Jubilee in a Vatican City jail cell, and he could face up to eight years behind bars for crimes against the Vatican City State. He and his co-defendants won’t be the first to be prosecuted by the world’s smallest state.
There are two types of courts within the Vatican: religious and civil. Religious courts punish heretical priests, for example, and their jurisdiction extends beyond the Vatican’s walls. Penalties follow the principle of salus animarum, the salvation of souls. They come in the form of invitations to repentance, expulsion from the priestly state or, in severe cases, excommunication.
The Italian civil code of 1929, however, is the foundation of the Vatican City State’s civil law. Various popes have updated the code with prohibitions against new crimes like drug trafficking and financing terrorism. Francis overhauled the laws in 2013 to strengthen punishments against child sexual abuse and leaking confidential documents.
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