Last week the Vatican announced with much fanfare a new law concerning clerical abuse. The law, issued via the document Vos estis lux mundi (“You are the light of the world”), was hailed instantly by some as revolutionary.
The new law, which comes into force on June 1, obliges priests and religious to report abuse to their superiors, requires every diocese in the world to have a system for reporting abuse, and gives metropolitan archbishops the power to investigate accusations against suffragan bishops. It also puts abuse of seminarians by superiors in the same criminal category as abuse of children and vulnerable adults.
