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Clergy sexual abuse and the Church's response

Each mark is one quotation. Touch the timeline to read it.

Priests, deacons and religious sexually abused children and young people. In many places bishops and religious superiors failed to act on what they knew, or concealed it. This timeline gives the Church's own official statements and measures on the abuse and its cover-up, in date order.

Drafted from official Church documents only, all on vatican.va. Every quotation is checked against the page it links to. The findings of independent and state inquiries are not yet included, because their sources have not been added to the site's approved list.

16 quotations in date order

The Modern Era1800 to today
2001
Magisterium

Abuse cases reserved to Rome

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Letter on the more grave delicts reserved to the Congregation, 18 May 2001

“A delict against morals, namely: the delict committed by a cleric against the Sixth Commandment of the Decalogue with a minor below the age of 18 years. … As often as an ordinary or hierarch has at least probable knowledge of a reserved delict, after he has carried out the preliminary investigation he is to indicate it to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith…”

Read it in the source: vatican.va

2002
Magisterium

"No place in the priesthood" stated to the American cardinals

Pope St. John Paul II Address to the Cardinals of the United States, 23 April 2002, no. 3

“It must be absolutely clear to the Catholic faithful, and to the wider community, that Bishops and superiors are concerned, above all else, with the spiritual good of souls. People need to know that there is no place in the priesthood and religious life for those who would harm the young.”

Read it in the source: vatican.va

2002
Magisterium

The Dallas Charter and the Essential Norms

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Essential Norms for Diocesan/Eparchial Policies Dealing with Allegations of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Priests or Deacons, norms 8 and 11, with the decree of the Congregation for Bishops, 8 December 2002

“8. When even a single act of sexual abuse by a priest or deacon is admitted or is established after an appropriate process in accord with canon law, the offending priest or deacon will be removed permanently from ecclesiastical ministry, not excluding dismissal from the clerical state, if the case so warrants … 11. The diocese/eparchy will comply with all applicable civil laws with respect to the reporting of allegations of sexual abuse of minors to civil authorities and will cooperate in their investigation. In every instance, the diocese/eparchy will advise and support a person’s right to make a report to public authorities.”

Read it in the source: vatican.va

2008
Magisterium

"Sometimes very badly handled": Benedict XVI to the American bishops

Pope Benedict XVI Address to the Bishops of the United States, Washington, 16 April 2008

“Among the countersigns to the Gospel of life found in America and elsewhere is one that causes deep shame: the sexual abuse of minors. Many of you have spoken to me of the enormous pain that your communities have suffered when clerics have betrayed their priestly obligations and duties by such gravely immoral behavior. … Responding to this situation has not been easy and, as the President of your Episcopal Conference has indicated, it was “sometimes very badly handled”.”

Read it in the source: vatican.va

2010
Magisterium

Letter to the Catholics of Ireland: to the victims

Pope Benedict XVI Pastoral Letter to the Catholics of Ireland, 19 March 2010, no. 6

“You have suffered grievously and I am truly sorry. I know that nothing can undo the wrong you have endured. Your trust has been betrayed and your dignity has been violated. Many of you found that, when you were courageous enough to speak of what happened to you, no one would listen. Those of you who were abused in residential institutions must have felt that there was no escape from your sufferings. It is understandable that you find it hard to forgive or be reconciled with the Church. In her name, I openly express the shame and remorse that we all feel.”

Read it in the source: vatican.va

2010
Magisterium

Letter to the Catholics of Ireland: to the bishops

Pope Benedict XVI Pastoral Letter to the Catholics of Ireland, 19 March 2010, no. 11

“It cannot be denied that some of you and your predecessors failed, at times grievously, to apply the long-established norms of canon law to the crime of child abuse. Serious mistakes were made in responding to allegations. I recognize how difficult it was to grasp the extent and complexity of the problem, to obtain reliable information and to make the right decisions in the light of conflicting expert advice. Nevertheless, it must be admitted that grave errors of judgement were made and failures of leadership occurred. All this has seriously undermined your credibility and effectiveness.”

Read it in the source: vatican.va

2011
Magisterium

Every bishops' conference told to write guidelines

Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith Circular Letter to assist Episcopal Conferences in developing Guidelines for dealing with cases of sexual abuse of minors perpetrated by clerics, 3 May 2011, I, e

“Sexual abuse of minors is not just a canonical delict but also a crime prosecuted by civil law. Although relations with civil authority will differ in various countries, nevertheless it is important to cooperate with such authority within their responsibilities. Specifically, without prejudice to the sacramental internal forum, the prescriptions of civil law regarding the reporting of such crimes to the designated authority should always be followed.”

Read it in the source: vatican.va

2016
Magisterium

Negligent bishops can be removed: As a Loving Mother

Pope Francis Apostolic Letter motu proprio As a Loving Mother, 4 June 2016, art. 1

“§ 1. The diocesan Bishop or Eparch, or one who even holds a temporary title and is responsible for a Particular Church, or other community of faithful that is its legal equivalent, according to can. 368 CIC or can. 313 CCEO, can be legitimately removed from this office if he has through negligence committed or through omission facilitated acts that have caused grave harm to others, either to physical persons or to the community as a whole. The harm may be physical, moral, spiritual or through the use of patrimony. § 2. The diocesan Bishop or Eparch can only be removed if he is objectively lacking in a very grave manner the diligence that his pastoral office demands of him, even without serious moral fault on his part. § 3. In the case of the abuse of minors and vulnerable adults it is enough that the lack of diligence be grave.”

Read it in the source: vatican.va

2018
Magisterium

The Pope admits his own errors over Chile

Pope Francis Letter to the Bishops of Chile following the report of Archbishop Charles J. Scicluna, 8 April 2018

“With regard to myself, I recognize, and I would like you to convey this faithfully, that I have made serious errors in the assessment and perception of the situation, in particular through the lack of reliable and balanced information. I now beg the forgiveness of all those whom I have offended and I hope to be able to do so personally, in the coming weeks, in the meetings that I will have with representatives of the people interviewed.”

Read it in the source: vatican.va

2018
Magisterium

Letter to the People of God

Pope Francis Letter to the People of God, 20 August 2018, no. 1

“In recent days, a report was made public which detailed the experiences of at least a thousand survivors, victims of sexual abuse, the abuse of power and of conscience at the hands of priests over a period of approximately seventy years. … The heart-wrenching pain of these victims, which cries out to heaven, was long ignored, kept quiet or silenced. … With shame and repentance, we acknowledge as an ecclesial community that we were not where we should have been, that we did not act in a timely manner, realizing the magnitude and the gravity of the damage done to so many lives. We showed no care for the little ones; we abandoned them.”

Read it in the source: vatican.va

2019
Magisterium

The Vatican meeting on the protection of minors

Pope Francis Address at the end of the Eucharistic Concelebration, Meeting on the Protection of Minors in the Church, 24 February 2019, point 5

“No abuse should ever be covered up (as was often the case in the past) or not taken sufficiently seriously, since the covering up of abuses favours the spread of evil and adds a further level of scandal.”

Read it in the source: vatican.va

2019
Magisterium

Bishops made accountable: Vos estis lux mundi

Pope Francis Apostolic Letter motu proprio Vos estis lux mundi, 7 May 2019, art. 1 §1

“§1. These norms apply to reports regarding clerics or members of Institutes of Consecrated Life or Societies of Apostolic Life and concerning: a) delicts against the sixth commandment of the Decalogue consisting of: … ii. performing sexual acts with a minor or a vulnerable person; … b) conduct carried out by the subjects referred to in article 6, consisting of actions or omissions intended to interfere with or avoid civil investigations or canonical investigations, whether administrative or penal, against a cleric or a religious regarding the delicts referred to in letter a) of this paragraph.”

Read it in the source: vatican.va

2019
Magisterium

The pontifical secret lifted

Pope Francis Rescriptum ex audientia with the Instruction On the Confidentiality of Legal Proceedings, 6 December 2019, nos. 1, 4 and 5

“1. The pontifical secret does not apply to accusations, trials and decisions involving the offences referred to in: a) Article 1 of the Motu proprio “Vos estis lux mundi” (7 May 2019); … 4. Office confidentiality shall not prevent the fulfilment of the obligations laid down in all places by civil laws, including any reporting obligations, and the execution of enforceable requests of civil judicial authorities. 5. The person who files the report, the person who alleges to have been harmed and the witnesses shall not be bound by any obligation of silence with regard to matters involving the case.”

Read it in the source: vatican.va

2020
Magisterium

The McCarrick report published

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State Statement on the publication of the Report on the Holy See's institutional knowledge and decision-making related to former Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick, 10 November 2020

“The Report on the Holy See’s institutional knowledge and decision-making process related to former Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick, which the Secretariat of State drew up on the Pope’s mandate, is published today. … We publish the Report with sorrow for the wounds that these events have caused to the victims, their families, the Church in the United States, and the Universal Church.”

Read it in the source: vatican.va

2021
Magisterium

The Church's penal law rewritten: Pascite gregem Dei

Pope Francis Apostolic Constitution Pascite gregem Dei, reforming Book VI of the Code of Canon Law, 23 May 2021

“In the past, great damage was done by a failure to appreciate the close relationship existing in the Church between the exercise of charity and recourse — where circumstances and justice so require — to disciplinary sanctions. This manner of thinking — as we have learned from experience — risks leading to tolerating immoral conduct, for which mere exhortations or suggestions are insufficient remedies. … Negligence on the part of a bishop in resorting to the penal system is a sign that he has failed to carry out his duties honestly and faithfully, as I have expressly pointed out in recent documents, including the Apostolic Letters issued Motu Proprio As a Loving Mother (4 June 2016) and Vos Estis Lux Mundi (7 May 2019).”

Read it in the source: vatican.va

2023
Magisterium

Vos estis lux mundi reissued and extended

Pope Francis Apostolic Letter motu proprio Vos estis lux mundi (updated), 25 March 2023, art. 6

“The procedural norms referred to in this title concern the delicts referred to in article 1, carried out by: a) Cardinals, Patriarchs, Bishops and Legates of the Roman Pontiff; … f) lay faithful who are or who were Moderators of international associations of the faithful recognized or erected by the Apostolic See, for acts committed durante munere.”

Read it in the source: vatican.va