Panorama attack on Pope Benedict
A "Panorama Special" screened last night was called "Sex Crimes And The Vatican". It accused Pope Benedict of being instrumental in covering up child abuse in the Church.
The Bishops of England and Wales were denied the opportunity to preview the programme but were able to view a leaked copy at their In Service Training at Valladolid. As a result, they are to make a complaint to the BBC about the "unwarranted" and "deeply prejudiced" programme. I'll post the text of any press release or statement as soon as it is available somewhere on the internet. (Any help gratefully received in the combox.)
In the meantime, there is a good article in the Telegraph today: Protest at BBC 'attack on Pope
John Allen in 2003 offered a good analysis of Crimen Sollicitationis.
Here is the text of Crimen Sollicitationis in Latin.
Here is the text of Crimen Sollicitationis in English.
A couple of points to note:
Crimen Sollicitationis does not prevent or forbid having proper recourse to the civil authorities in the case of a crime being committed. (It provides for secrecy related to canonical process.)
The reservation of cases of priests abusing children to the CDF does not prevent or forbid having proper recourse to the civil authorities in the case of a crime being committed. (It ensures that the canonical process is dealt with seriously by the Church at the highest level and affirms that the crime is of the most serious nature.)
The Bishops of England and Wales were denied the opportunity to preview the programme but were able to view a leaked copy at their In Service Training at Valladolid. As a result, they are to make a complaint to the BBC about the "unwarranted" and "deeply prejudiced" programme. I'll post the text of any press release or statement as soon as it is available somewhere on the internet. (Any help gratefully received in the combox.)
In the meantime, there is a good article in the Telegraph today: Protest at BBC 'attack on Pope
John Allen in 2003 offered a good analysis of Crimen Sollicitationis.
Here is the text of Crimen Sollicitationis in Latin.
Here is the text of Crimen Sollicitationis in English.
A couple of points to note:
Crimen Sollicitationis does not prevent or forbid having proper recourse to the civil authorities in the case of a crime being committed. (It provides for secrecy related to canonical process.)
The reservation of cases of priests abusing children to the CDF does not prevent or forbid having proper recourse to the civil authorities in the case of a crime being committed. (It ensures that the canonical process is dealt with seriously by the Church at the highest level and affirms that the crime is of the most serious nature.)
