New Vatican rules will spell end of Response Team – Caruana Colombo
Charlot Zahra
Mr Justice Victor Caruana Colombo – Head of the Curia’s Response Team, set up in 1999 to deal with cases of alleged child abuse by members of the clergy – has admitted that, after a new Vatican decree calling on Archdioceses to follow the laws of the country to always report crimes “to the appropriate authorities”, his Response Team will come to an end
“My assessment on this is that the investigation (by the response team) will not take place,” Caruana Colombo said wsked about the wider implications of the Vatican’s decision. “When there is a report of sexual abuse on minors, the Church – the bishop or whoever is in charge of this matter – reports the case directly to the police.”
Caruana-Colombo reiterated his position that under Canon Law, the investigation conducted by the Response Team was “surely confidential” and cannot report the cases to the police.
“I am definitely bound by confidentiality, hence I cannot report to anybody: neither the police nor to anybody else”.
According to Caruana-Colombo, “the investigation would have to remain secret unless Canon Law is changed.”
Asked about how this dichotomy between Canon Law and the Vatican’s decision was going to be solved, the retired judge told Malta Today: “It is up to them to solve it. I think that this will mean that the Church will not investigate abuse cases any more,” he explained.
“Therefore the response team would have to cease to exit and once the Archbishop receives a report, instead of sending it to the Response Team, he would send it directly to the police,” Caruana-said.
However, the head of the Response Team also pointed out that he had not as yet spoken to the Curia on the subject.
“I only learnt about the news on Tuesday. I still have to discuss it with the Archbishop.”
Canon Law No. 1719 states that “The acts of investigations, the decrees of the ordinary by which the investigation was opened or closed, and all those matters that preceded the investigation are to be kept in the secretal curial archives, unless they are necessary for the penal process,” Caruana-Colombo explained.
The penal process mentioned in Canon Law 1719 referred “to the penal process which is conducted under Canon Law,” he told MaltaToday.
On Tuesday, in an unprecedented development, the Vatican issued amended guidelines for Catholic Archdioceses for dealing with child abuse cases, specifically ordering Dioceses to report these crimes to the police.
“Civil law concerning reporting of crimes to the appropriate authorities should always be followed,” the Vatican’s amended instructions to the Dioceses around the globe clearly stated.
The statement is understood to be an indication that the Church is responding to international criticism of its past policies in dealing with such cases.
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