Pope Francis altered church law to criminalize the sexual abuse of adults by priests and other church officials, the Holy See Press Office announced.
Tuesday’s rule change marks a first for the Catholic Church, acknowledging that it would recognize and criminalize sexual predators “grooming” adult and minor victims based on an imbalance of power that leads to sexual abuse, according to the Associated Press.
Following 14 years of study, the Code of Canon Law’s criminal law section was revised in order to address how the church should handle issues of sexual abuse.
The changes to articles 1395 and 1398 will recognize that adults can also be victimized by members of the clergy and state that laypeople in church positions can be punished for abusing minors and adults.
ARCHBISHOP SAYS BIDEN AND PELOSI SHOULDN’T RECEIVE COMMUNION OVER ABORTION STANCE
Priests who engage in sexual acts or abuse can be defrocked for their behavior. Laypeople cannot face the threat of being defrocked, but they will be subject to penalties such as losing their job, paying fines, or being removed from communities.
The Vatican has long seen sexual relations between priests and adults to be sinful yet consensual.
The papacy was forced to recognize the potential abuse of adults by priests due to the widespread sexual abuse allegations that were revealed over the past 10 years, coupled with pressure from the #MeToo movement.
Pope Francis defrocked Cardinal Theodore McCarrick in 2019 after a Vatican investigation determined that he sexually abused minors and adult seminarians.
Monsignor Juan Ignacio Arrieta, the secretary of the Vatican’s legal office, said the new law could cover any member of the church who is sexually abused by a priest if it can be shown that the priest used force or abused his authority.
The law does not detail specifically which adults are covered, only saying that an adult who “habitually has an imperfect use of reason” or for “whom the law recognizes equal protection.” The new laws will take effect on Dec. 8.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The Washington Examiner contacted the Holy See Press Office but did not immediately receive a response.
