VATICAN STRENGTHENS RULES BARRING ABUSE BY PRIESTS
Baku, July 15 (AZERTAC). The Vatican has issued new rules aimed at cracking down on priests accused of sexual abuse.
The revisions disclosed Thursday extend the time limit for complaints about priestly abuse - the statute of limitations - from 10 years after the victim`s 18th birthday to at least 20 years. The rules clarify that abuse of a mentally handicapped adult is as serious a crime as child abuse. Possessing or distributing child pornography also is listed as a serious offense.
The changes update Vatican regulations dating back to 2001. They are in the first major document issued by the Vatican since the priest sex abuse scandal intensified this year, with hundreds of new cases coming to light. Senior Vatican officials say the new rules on sex-abuse cases reinforce Pope Benedict XVI`s effort to repair the image of the Roman Catholic Church in the wake of the abuse scandal. The pope himself faced allegations that as archbishop of Munich, he shielded predator priests from punishment.
The document issued Thursday also lists as a "grave crime" against church law any attempt to ordain a woman to the priesthood. Church spokesmen said this codifies a papal decree in 2007 declaring that women can not be priests.
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