A senior figure in the Roman Curia has said that plans by the Vatican to set up ecclesiastical courts to try priests involved with paedophilia were urgent in order to "confirm the faithful's confidence in their priests, especially parish priests \ educators".
Archbishop Tarsicio Bertone, secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said on Vatican Radio that in recent years there had been a veritable "defamation" of the "priestly ministry, which is offended by the behaviour of a few ministers, while virtually all priests behave in an exemplary way."
Some cases had emerged "of seriously illicit behaviour on the part of sacred ministers", but he added: "We also know that these cases are emphasised by the media and press and, as a result, in a certain sense cause greater scandal than in the past."
The document, Sacramentorum Sanctitati Tutela (Tutelage of the Holiness of the Sacraments), was prepared by Pope John Paul and published in a recent edition of the Acta Apostolicae Sedis (Acts of the Apostolic See). It emerged that the document, in Latin, was sent by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to all diocesan bishops last June with a covering letter, also in Latin, asking that the matter be kept secret.
The bishops were instructed to inform the congregation if a case of paedophilia involving a priest occurred in the diocese. Rome would then decide whether a tribunal of priests should investigate the case locally or at the Vatican. Such tribunals would have powers to dismiss guilty priests.
Archbishop Bertone said the document dealt with norms on the sacraments, including cases involving desecration of the Eucharist, direct violation of the seal of confession and sins related to the Sixth Commandment ("you shall not commit adultery") involving a penitent and confessor.
It made "more precise the definition of certain crimes" and doubled the time of the prescription of these crimes to 10 years. This meant that where a minor had been abused "the time of prescription begins to count from when he/she reaches 18", he said.
