On Thursday, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) released a handbook designed to help dioceses and religious orders follow Church guidelines on handling allegations of clerical sexual abuse of minors.

The stated aim of the manual, or Vademecum, is to help church leaders “understand and implement the requirements of justice regarding a delictum gravius that constitutes for the whole Church a profound and painful wound that cries out for healing.”

The 17-page document does not alter current canon law but instead provides those charged with authority over clergy, the Ordinary or Hierarch, a “step-by-step” guide to assisting canonical investigations of such abuse cases.

As noted in the handbook, “every external offense against the sixth commandment of the Decalogue committed by a cleric with a minor” is dealt with by the CDF because such crimes are classed as a grave delict (graviora delicta). Sexual abuse of vulnerable adults is dealt with in the same manor, since “a person who habitually has the imperfect use of reason is to be considered equivalent to a minor”.

The manual principally addresses how preliminary investigations of allegations are to be conducted, what information must be passed onto the CDF, and details of how the CDF can be expected to act on information received.

An Ordinary or Hierarch must carry out a preliminary investigation, in which they obtain relevant data and ascertain plausibility, if they receive any information about possible abuse, whether it comes directly from an alleged victim or otherwise.

The handbook states that such pre-trial preliminary investigations must be carried out “independently of any corresponding investigation by the civil authorities” and that investigators are “bound to observe the secret of office”. It adds, however, that civil authorities can still be informed of proceedings and that the “obligation of silence about the allegations cannot be imposed on the one reporting the matter, on a person who claims to have been harmed, and on witnesses.”

The document makes frequent reference to the continued need to consult canon law, legal experts and the CDF when investigating clerical abuse of minors and closes by stating that it “does not claim to replace the training of practitioners of canon law, especially with regard to penal and procedural matters. Only a profound knowledge of the law and its aims can render due service to truth and justice, which are especially to be sought in matters of graviora delicta by reason of the deep wounds they inflict upon ecclesial communion.”

The Vademecum is one of the last documents to be released from those announced at the Vatican’s abuse summit in 2019. In addition to the Code of Canon Law, the handbook advises those investigating allegations to make reference to one of the first of these post-summit documents, Pope Francis’s Vos estis lux mundi, which was intended to ensure bishops and religious superiors were held accountable for their handling of abuse cases.

The post CDF releases handbook on how to investigate clerical abuse of minors appeared first on Catholic Herald.