News Briefs

New child protection law for Vatican City State
VATICAN CITY — To better protect minors and vulnerable adults from all forms of abuse and exploitation, Pope Francis approved a new law and a set of safeguarding guidelines for Vatican City State and the Roman Curia.

Pope Francis established the new norms and legal, criminal and safeguarding procedures with an apostolic letter given “motu proprio” (on his own initiative), published March 29. The law and procedures are set to go into effect June 1.

Because the safeguarding of children and vulnerable people is an integral part of the Gospel message, “I wish, therefore, to further strengthen the institutional and normative order to prevent and fight abuses against minors and vulnerable adults,” the pope wrote.

The law and guidelines have been created, he wrote, “so that in the Roman Curia and in Vatican City State” there will be, among other things: respect and awareness of the rights and needs of minors and vulnerable adults; greater vigilance, prevention and corrective action when abuse or mistreatment is suspected or reported; clearer procedures as well as specific offices for making claims; support services and protections for alleged victims, their families and those accused; and adequate formation for and background checks of new personnel, including volunteers.

The new law “On the Protection of Minors and Vulnerable Persons” further enhances a major set of criminal laws for Vatican City State the pope approved in 2013; the earlier laws dealt with child sexual abuse, child pornography and the sale or prostitution of children and specified that any Vatican employee around the world can be tried by the Vatican court for violating those laws.

While the amendments in 2013 brought Vatican law into detailed compliance with several international treaties the Vatican had signed over the past decades, the new law on child protection was meant to better comply with the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child and its optional protocol, which the Vatican ratified in 1990 and 2001, respectively.

While few minors are resident in Vatican City State, there are minors in the Sistine Chapel Choir, and there is a pediatric hospital and a minor seminary under Vatican City State jurisdiction. Since September 2017, Vatican City State officials have been investigating allegations that a future priest abused a younger fellow-student at the St. Pius X pre-seminary.

Spread mercy, pope urges Morocco’s Christian minority
RABAT, Morocco — Celebrating Mass with members of Morocco’s tiny Catholic community, Pope Francis praised them for the many ways they “bear witness to the Gospel of mercy in this land.”

At the Mass March 31 in an arena at Rabat’s Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, the pope honored the way that Catholics, although much less than 1 percent of the population, reach out to help their Muslim brothers and sisters and the thousands of migrants who pass through, hoping to reach Europe.

“I encourage you to continue to let the culture of mercy grow, a culture in which no one looks at others with indifference, or averts his eyes in the face of their suffering,” he said.

The languages used at the Mass reflected the fact that the Catholic community in Morocco is made up almost entirely of foreigners. The readings were in Spanish, Arabic and French; English, Portuguese and Italian were added for the prayers of the faithful.

More than a dozen Muslim leaders attended the Mass in a sign of friendship and were given seats near the front of the arena.
As is his custom, the pope’s homily at the Mass focused almost entirely on the day’s Gospel reading, which was the story of the prodigal son.