Pope expands measures against abuse in the church

Nearly four years after Pope Francis issued stricter measures against sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, the Vatican has now announced expanded and clearer rules. The Holy See on Saturday presented an updated version of the 2019 Apostolic Exhortation “Vos estis lux mundi” (You are the light of the world). The Pontifex thus confirms the existing measures, but at the same time recommends innovations and expansions. The new version of the Apostolic Exhortation is expected to come into force on April 30.

With the so-called motu proprio “Vos estis lux mundi”, Pope Francis responded in 2019 to criticism that he was not doing enough about cases of abuse in the church. He wanted to act against this with stricter laws. Central to the decree was the reporting obligation for the entire Catholic Church.

In the original letter, the obligation to report abuses and cover-ups only applied to clergy and religious. In the new version laymen have now also been added to the top of international associations. In an interview with Vatican Radio, Father Hans Zollner of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors describes this as the most important innovation. The fight against abuse is now more clearly discussed.

It also gets more specific with regard to advertising touchpoints. Where the old version still spoke of “stable systems” that should be “easily accessible to the public”, the establishment of “offices and offices” is now ordered to receive reports of abuse. (sda/dpa)