The Vatican is preparing to update the 2001 norms that deal with child sex abuse by clergy, in effect codifying practices that have been in place for several years.
Sources said it will also include the "attempted ordination of women" among the list of most serious crimes against church law, or "delicta graviora".
Sexual abuse of a child by a priest was added to the classification of "delicta graviora" in 2001. At that time the Vatican established norms to govern the handling of such cases.
The revisions of those norms have been in the pipeline for some time and were expected to be published in mid-July, Vatican sources said. While the changes are not "earth-shaking," they will ultimately strengthen the Church's efforts to identify and discipline priests who abuse children, the sources said.
