The vatican is codifying practices that have been in place for several years that deal with priestly sex abuse of minors. It will also include the attempted ordination of women on the list of most serious crimes.
The revisions include extending the church law’s statue of limitation on accusations of sexual abuse from 10 years after the victim’s18th birthday to 20 years. The revisions also clarify that the use of child pornography falls under the category of clerical sexual abuse of minors. In addition, the revisions will include disabled adults into the “minors” category.
The Vatican placed online a guide to understanding the church’s provision for sex abused cases for reference.
