Vatican City, Jul 15, 2010 / 13:35 pm
Monsignor Charles Scicluna took part in a press briefing on Thursday for the release of modified Vatican norms on how to examine and punish cases involving the "most serious sins." He fielded a number of questions as to its content but underscored the importance of ongoing action for successfully bringing about change in the Church.
Journalists in the Holy See's Press Office spoke of the encounter as "unseen since the days of Cardinal Ratzinger." The Maltese promotor of justice of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith fielded questions on complex matters with apparent ease, answering journalists' queries regarding many aspects of the updates to the Motu Proprio of 2001 in both English and Italian.
About the concern in the media that sexual abuse against minors was being equated with the attempted ordination of women in the eyes of canon law, Msgr. Scicluna said in English, "They are not on the same level." Serious sins are divided into those against Christian morality and those committed during the administration of the sacraments, he explained.
Sexual abuses of minors and child pornography are the graver sins and represent "an egregious violation of moral law." And while the attempted ordination is grave, it's "on another level," he said, explaining that it is a wound that goes against the Catholic faith and the sacrament of Holy Orders.