Pope cuts penalties for paedophile priests

[satanboy]

Pope Francis has been slammed by church officials and sex abuse survivors for cutting penalties for paedophile priests.

The Pope is said to be applying his vision of a 'merciful church' to sex offenders by reducing punishments to weaker sentences, such as a lifetime of prayer and penance. It has been revealed by church officials that Pope Francis overruled advice given to him by the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith about two priests - allowing them to be punished by a lifetime of prayer.

One of the priests was the Reverend Mauro Inzoli, who was found guilty of abusing young boys by the Vatican in 2012 and was ordered to be defrocked.
However, he appealed, and in 2014 Francis reduced the penalty to a lifetime of prayer, prohibiting him from celebrating Mass in public or being near children, barring him from his diocese and ordering five years of psychotherapy. Rev Inzoli was then convicted by an Italian criminal court for his sex crimes against five children as young as 12. He is now facing a second church trial after new evidence emerged against him.

A church official has said some paedophile priests and their high-ranking friends appealed to Pope Francis by citing the pope's own words about mercy in their petitions. They said: 'With all this emphasis on mercy ... he is creating the environment for such initiatives.' Marie Collins, an abuse survivor and founding member of Francis' sex-abuse advisory commission, expressed dismay that the congregation's recommended penalties were being weakened. She said: 'All who abuse have made a conscious decision to do so. Even those who are paedophiles, experts will tell you, are still responsible for their actions. They can resist their inclinations.'

Many canon lawyers and church authorities argue that defrocking paedophiles can put society at greater risk because the church no longer exerts control over them.
They argue that keeping the men in restricted ministry, away from children, enables superiors to exert some degree of supervision. But Ms Collins said the church must also take into account the message that reduced canonical sentences sends to both survivors and abusers.

dailymail

 

[ponder]

 

[cn@]

If the Catholic church are serious about child abuse they should change their ways and customs. Firstly allow priests to marry or at least to have relationships, to let out sexual desires in a healthy way.

Secondly, why do priests have so much access to boys? Answer: altar boys. Solution: Stop that practice. I'm sure God wouldn't mind.

 

[daveza]

Since when does some pope decide about criminal punishment ?!

If they have committed a crime why are they just not reported to the authorities ?

 

[Radioboy]

Since when does some pope decide about criminal punishment ?!

If they have committed a crime why are they just not reported to the authorities ?

The vatican is a state on its own with the Pope as its head. So he can pretty much do as he pleases.

Edit: it is also not part of the UN - so it isnt bothered by outside criticism.

 

[Arthur]

The Vatican has less than 10 priests that are citizens of the state and engaged in pastoral work (contact with parishes and communities). The rest of the approx 400 000 are nationals of their own countries and fully subject to those national laws and authorities, with absolutely no protection or cover from the Vatican.

These sentences by the Vatican authorities are totally separate from any other punishments meted out by ordinary secular courts and authorities. They relate to the specific eccelesiastical penalties quite apart from those imposed by national secular courts.

Assuming a paedophile priest serves a prison sentence in his country, and in completion of his civil/secular sentence is released, the Church penalties and canonical punishments still apply even though civil/secular punishments have been served.

 

[ponder]

The vatican is a state on its own with the Pope as its head. So he can pretty much do as he pleases.

Outside the vatican he has no jurisdiction over crimes committed in other countries. Most of these crimes are committed in other countries, there aren't nearly enough kids in the vatican for them to get their freak on.