TWIN CITIES (MN)
The Catholic Spirit
May 10, 2019
By Maria Wiering
Archbishop Bernard Hebda praised Pope Francis’ May 9 legislation on clergy sex abuse, saying the pope’s actions “reflect the urgent need to take concrete steps and provide clear direction for reporting and investigating allegations of sexual abuse of minors and adults by all clergy, including bishops.”
“This scourge of abusive acts — and the lack of clear procedures to respond effectively to them — as well as the failure of some bishops and other Church leaders to respond appropriately to reports of abuse, has profoundly harmed far too many,” Archbishop Hebda said in a May 9 statement. “Inadequate responses in the past, moreover, have also weakened the credibility of the Church as she strives to give witness to the good news of Jesus.”
Pope Francis released the legislation, known in canon law as a “motu proprio,” to address clergy sexual abuse in the Church worldwide. The document, titled “Vox estis lux mundi,” or “You Are the Light of the World,” followed an international meeting of bishops in Rome in February to address clergy sexual abuse.
Although the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops began to address clergy sexual abuse in the 1980s, it enacted the first binding national policies on it in 2002, following the Boston Globe’s investigation of the issue in the Archdiocese of Boston. That year, the U.S. bishops released “The Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People” and the corresponding “Essential Norms,” often together referred to as the Dallas Charter, which established procedures for preventing and reporting sexual abuse in U.S. Catholic dioceses.
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