Pedophile priests, Vatican close: more stringent standards

Yesterday - 14:49 The Vatican has undergone a major overhaul rules on sexual abuse committed by priests against minors, in an attempt to stem the scandal hit the Catholic Church throughout the world. Continue reading this article Unexpectedly, the Holy See has also established that the 'attempted sacred ordination of a woman "to the priesthood, one of the most serious crime against the ecclesiastical laws. Changes to the motu proprio - a document promulgated by Pope John Paul II in 2001 on particularly serious crimes against the laws of the Church - concerning the procedures for the suspension of religious who have made abuse and making some procedures that were previously applied in exceptional circumstances, the general rules for cases of abuse. "There indicates that we are very, very serious in our commitment to promote safe environments and provide adequate response to the abuses, "he said during a press conference, Monsignor Charles Scicluna, promoter of justice at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which has contributed to the revision. "If further changes are needed, they will." Under the new rules, the statute of limitations in cases of sexual abuse increased from 10 to 20 years after the 18th year et the victims, who may complain up to 38 years . The Vatican spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, said that in some cases the statute of limitations may be further delayed. The sexual abuse of mentally handicapped are also equivalent to those of children. These new rules also provide that ' acquisition, possession or dissemination of child pornography by a cleric being considered a serious offense subject to the same discipline to abuse. - On other news site www.reuters.it Reuters in Italian. The top news also on www.twitter.com / reuters_italia