Pope Francis has long argued that a thoroughgoing response to sexual abuse requires a conversion of heart and of ecclesial culture, rather than law. But law can be a mighty force in culture change, and the Holy Father did just that with his latest motu proprio mandating that all clerics must report sexual abuse of minors or vulnerable persons, abuse of authority for sexual purposes or any cover-up of the same.
Vos estis lux mundi is the most significant legislation since the motu proprio of St John Paul II in 2001, Sacramentorum sanctitatis tutela. The latter mandated bishops to refer all cases of sexual abuse of minors to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which would then direct how the disciplinary cases were to be handled. It ended – in law – the capacity of the local bishop to handle the case, or not handle it, as he saw fit.
