Acta Benedicti Pp. XVI 701

and individual Bishops, and following careful examination of the various

aspects of the problem, has modified the relevant canonical legislation and

procedures in order to make them simpler to apply, more effective and more

expeditious.

A brief overview of this legislation may prove helpful. For centuries ca-

nonical discipline has provided for dealing with the abuse of minors, even

before most modern nation States introduced legislation in this regard. Prior

to the Code of Canon Law promulgated by Pope John Paul II in 1983, such

cases were handled according to the norms of the previous edition of the Code

of Canon Law, promulgated by Pope Benedict XV in 1917. In 1922, the Holy

Office issued the Instruction Crimen Sollicitationis which provided a frame-

work of procedures to guide diocesan bishops dealing with the canonical

crime or "delict" of solicitation in their application of canon law. The

Instruction also included certain provisions on the crime of sexual abuse

of prepubescent children. In 1962, Pope John XXIII authorized a reprint

of the 1922 Instruction, with a section added regarding the administrative or

judicial procedures to be used in those cases in which religious clerics were

involved.

The 1983 Code updated the previous discipline in canon 1395 § 2: "A cleric

who in another way has committed an offence against the sixth commandment of

the Decalogue, if the delict was committed by force or threats or publicly or with a

minor below the age of sixteen years, is to be punished with just penalties, not

excluding dismissal from the clerical state if the case so warrants."

The 1983 Code provides that the diocesan Ordinary (the Bishop or

equivalent) is responsible for judging cases in the first instance. Prior to

2001, when the competence for cases of child sexual abuse perpetrated by

a cleric was transferred to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith,

appeals against judicial sentences could be presented to the Tribunal of the

Roman Rota, while administrative recourses (i.e. legal review of administra-

tive decisions) against penal decrees were to be presented to the Congregation

for the Clergy. As the Cloyne Report states, during the period 1996-2001, not a

single case of child sexual abuse perpetrated by a cleric in the Diocese of

Cloyne was referred to the competent authorities of the Roman Curia.

At the request of Bishops in some countries, the Holy See introduced

certain changes during the 1990s because of its concern about incidents of

child sexual abuse which, though often historical cases, were coming to light

more frequently than before in those countries. For this reason, the Holy See