Pope Francis lays down the law on child sex abuse on Vatican grounds
24 replies, posted
[quote]Rome (CNN) -- Pope Francis has laid down a law making it a crime to abuse children sexually or physically on Vatican grounds, the Holy See announced Thursday.
The acts were already crimes under church law, but are now specifically outlawed within the Vatican city-state, which is home to hundreds of people.
The legislation also covers child prostitution and the creation or possession of child pornography.
But it has a "broader scope," according to Radio Vatican.
It adds provisions of international laws against war crimes, racial discrimination and humiliating treatment or punishment to the Vatican's legal system.
It includes wording from the Geneva Conventions.
Francis issued the new laws as a "moto proprio," meaning that the document was his own initiative, Vatican Radio said.
The new criminal laws are part of an ongoing update of the Vatican's legal system, which began under Pope Benedict XVI.
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, a U.S. advocacy group for victims of abuse by priests and other clergy, dismissed the law as "a feel good gesture."
[img]http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/dam/assets/130711132103-pope-francis-lampedusa-story-top.jpg[/img]
[/quote]
[url]http://www.cnn.com/2013/07/11/world/europe/vatican-child-abuse/index.html?hpt=hp_t2[/url]
Why was it not already?
Oh... Yeah.
I'm kinda not surprised that it wasn't against the law there before.
Francis is doing all the right things recently
It's been against Church law for a very long time. And since 99% of the people in the Vatican are Catholic, it was de facto illegal.
Doesn't stop the age of consent in the Vatican from being 12.
The previous Pope was in charge of concealing the sex abuse scandals. This is a breath of fresh air. Hopefully we see more from this Pope on this issue.
Reading the second sentence of the OP pfft that's for nerds
Because the priests are totally gonna' care
This was illegal in Ireland too, didn't stop them there
Or in any of the other countries where this has occurred
Words words words
[QUOTE=Vodkavia;41417065]What idiot/child abuser thought 12 is good age of consent? Someone that young hardly understands sex or its social ramifications.[/QUOTE]
Italy, the country surrounding it, has an age of consent of 14 which isn't that far off from 12.
[img]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/Age_of_Consent_eu.png[/img]
[QUOTE=Vodkavia;41417065]What idiot/child abuser thought 12 is good age of consent? Someone that young hardly understands sex or its social ramifications.[/QUOTE]
That's because that law was made back in the middle ages, when the age of consent all over, not just at the Vatican, was 12. This was due to the fact that people didn't live that long in those days and therefore had to get it on earlier if they wanted to ensure that their family name survived. Marrying off daughters typically did happen at around that age during that time period.
[QUOTE=Ryu-Gi;41417174]That's because that law was made back in the middle ages, when the age of consent all over, not just at the Vatican, was 12. This was due to the fact that people didn't live that long in those days and therefore had to get it on earlier if they wanted to ensure that their family name survived. Marrying off daughters typically did happen at around that age during that time period.[/QUOTE]
It doesn't date back to the middle ages but to the Lateran Treaty in 1929, Vatican city adopted the laws of Italy at the time, one of which was the age of consent which was then 12 in Italy. It's 12 in Mexico and some prefectures of Japan today so it's not really that unusual.
Good. That should weed out the pederasts.
gj pope. only took 2013 years.
and is likely now only happening because of bad media.
you suck vatican.
Hey, at least they're doing [I]something[/I] instead of constant denial denial denial.
A "feel good gesture", as they called it, is better than other recent popes have done. It is still good, even if minor.
i'm sure this law will stop all those pedophile priests who abused children all over the world despite the laws of the countries they were in (the same priests that were then helped to evade the law by the church) good work pope guess i was wrong this guy is the real deal!
[QUOTE=Lachz0r;41418577]i'm sure this law will stop all those pedophile priests who abused children all over the world despite the laws of the countries they were in (the same priests that were then helped to evade the law by the church) good work pope guess i was wrong this guy is the real deal![/QUOTE]
Yeah, and laws against murder don't stop people from killing people all over the world. Laws against rape don't stop murderers. Laws against ANYTHING cannot fully stop anything. But they have them for when it does happen and can be used to punish those who are caught.
And it was a different Pope(s) who covered the shit up.
different pope same organization, which do you think has more power?
A man in charge of the organization can change it.
[QUOTE=Lachz0r;41418666]different pope same organization, which do you think has more power?[/QUOTE]
Exactly what I tell people when they say the president is the "most powerful person in America" when compared to the NSA/CIA, etc.
Presidents/popes come and go, organizations stick around for far longer.
Which is a fair point in itself.
[QUOTE=deathstarboot;41418687]Exactly what I tell people when they say the president is the "most powerful person in America" when compared to the NSA/CIA, etc.
Presidents/popes come and go, organizations stick around for far longer.[/QUOTE]
On the other hand, the Vatican isn't held back by 'separation of powers', so I would say there's more hope for the Vatican than the US in changing for the better.
yes, that the church is so ready for radical change as evident by this ground breaking anti child sex law shows there is more hope for it than the US
Sorry, you need to Log In to post a reply to this thread.