Rome, Italy, May 28, 2007 / 13:00 pm
In an interview with the Italian socialist newspaper “Repubblica,” the president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, Cardinal Julian Herranz, said it was false that the Holy See hides or protects priests guilty of abuse or sexual misconduct, and that instead abusive priests receive “very serious punishments” of an ecclesial nature that pose no detriment to civil proceedings.
The interview focused on the BBC documentary “Sexual Crimes and the Vatican,” which was supposedly based on an internal memo of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The document reaffirmed the inviolability of the seal of confession, but the documentary said was intended to “protect and hide” abusive priests.
Cardinal Herranz told “Repubblica” that canonical legislation includes “very harsh penalties, the maximum that can be inflicted upon a priest.” The publication also places, “the well-being of children… at the very heart of the Church, just as it was at the heart of Jesus Christ.”