Vatican City, Jul 16, 2020 / 06:00 am
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) issued Thursday a manual to help bishops and dioceses follow Church procedure in respect to accusations of sexual abuse of a minor by a cleric.
The vademecum, released July 16, is one of the last documents promised by the Vatican following its February 2019 abuse summit.
The handbook does not issue new norms or make alterations to current Church law, but is intended as a guide for bishops, dioceses, and religious communities on how to follow Church procedure in sex abuse cases.
Abuse of a minor by a cleric is considered by the Church to be a grave delict (graviora delicta), or crime. The disciplinary measures for grave delicts are the competence of the CDF.