Revised Catholic rules put female ordination in same category of crime
under church law as clerical sex abuse of minors
John Hooper in Rome
Friday July 16 2010
guardian.co.uk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/15/vatican-attempted-ordination-women-grave-crime
The Vatican today made the "attempted ordination" of women one of the
gravest crimes under church law, putting it in the same category as
clerical sex abuse [http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/
andrewbrown/2010/jul/14/religion-feminism-vatican" title="putting it
on a par with clerical sex abuse] of minors, heresy and schism.
The new rules, which have been sent to bishops around the world, apply
equally to Catholic women who agree to a ceremony of ordination and to
the bishop who conducts it. Both would be excommunicated. Since the
Vatican does not accept that women can become priests, it does not
recognise the outcome of any such ceremony.
The latest move, which appeared to bar and bolt the door to Catholic
women priests, came at a time when the Church of England moved in the
opposite direction, to a step closer to the ordination of female
bishops [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/12/archbishop-delay-
women-bishops-canterbury" title="closer to an acceptance of female
bishop].
The Vatican's reclassification of attempted female ordination was part
of a revision of a 2001 decree, the main purpose of which was to
tighten up the rules on sex abuse by priests in reaction to the
scandals that have been sweeping through the church since January. The
most important change is to extend the period during which a clergyman
can be tried by a church court from 10 to 20 years, dating from the
18th birthday of his victim.
The new rules introduce speedier procedures for dealing with the most
urgent and serious cases; allowed for lay people to form part of
church tribunals that judge such cases; put abuse of the mentally
disabled on a level with that of minors, and introduced a new crime of
paedophile pornography.
The pope's spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, stressed that the
changes applied solely to canon, or church, law. They had no bearing
on whether suspected offenders should be reported to the civil
authorities.
He said that issue had already been dealt with earlier this year in
instructions making it clear to bishops that they must report cases
promptly.
The Vatican was working on further instructions "so that the
directives it issues on the subject of sexual abuse of minors, either
by the clergy or institutions connected with the church, may be
increasingly rigorous, coherent and effective," he said.
guardian.co.uk Copyright (c) Guardian News and Media Limited. 2010
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