Clearing up a small confusion... (Main Forum)

by James, Australia, Wednesday, May 02, 2012, 17:32 (384 days ago) @ AsOne

Yes, thanks for that, AsOne. I did meant to write "statutory offence", and have fixed that up. The document is called Crimen Sollicitationis but I did refer to it as Solicitudinis on a previous occasion.

According to the official translation it means "The Crime of Solicitation", and from the context of the document it means soliciting sex in the confessional. If you read the first lengthy section of the document, it refers to soliciting sex from anyone, and not just children and provides very detailed procedures for dealing with it. The original document seems to have been promulgated in 1922.

There is a summary of the history of the matter in Sanctorum Sanctitatis, although you have to understand that this is a 2010 amended version where the mention of "pontifical secrecy" has been quietly dropped.

Added to this document on the crime of solicitation was a section dealing with homosexuality amongst clergy and also sexual assaults on children. There is no mention of confession in any of these sections, and the same procedures were to apply to them, as the case required. But again, there was imposed "the secret of the Holy Office:", or, as it was later called "pontifical secrecy" in Sanctorum Sanctitatis. It is worth reproducing the text of the document so far as pedophilia is concerned.

71. The term crimen pessimum [“the foulest crime”] is here understood to mean any external obscene act, gravely sinful, perpetrated or attempted by a cleric in any way whatsoever with a person of his own sex.

72. Everything laid down up to this point concerning the crime of solicitation is also valid, with the change only of those things which the nature of the matter necessarily requires, for the crimen pessimum, should some cleric (God forbid) happen to be accused of it before the local Ordinary, except that the obligation of denunciation [imposed] by the positive law of the Church [does not apply] unless perhaps it was joined with the crime of solicitation in sacramental confession. In determining penalties against delinquents of this type, in addition to what has been stated above, Canon 2359, §2 is also to be taken into consideration.

73. Equated with the crimen pessimum, with regard to penal effects, is any external obscene act, gravely sinful, perpetrated or attempted by a cleric in any way with pre-adolescent children [impuberes] of either sex or with brute animals (bestialitas).

But apart from the plain words of the document, we have continuous documentary evidence that is leakingout slowly, that the document meant what it said, and complainants were sworn to secrecy as Cardinal Brady did when he was a canonical investigator. And likewise, Archbishop Storero and Cardina Re expressed in writing their view that reporting such matters to the police was contrary to Canon Law.

And that remained the position from at least 1922 until 2010.