Pope Francis Announces First Revision Since 1983

Pope Francis. (Wikimedia Commons/Benhur Arcayan)

JAKARTA - Pope Francis inaugurated the most comprehensive revision of the Catholic Church's law in nearly four decades, which he has been working on since 2009.

This revision of the Church's Code of Canon Law, which consists of around 1,750 articles, will later replace the previous revision which was promulgated by Pope John Paul II in 1983 and will come into force on December 8, 2021.

The revised section, which involves about 90 articles on crimes and punishments, as reported by Reuters Wednesday, June 2. One of the emphasis of this revision is to strengthen the punishment for church priests who sexually abuse minors.

Introducing new categories of law and clearer and more specific language, the Pope warned Bishops, if they were responsible for following the rules of the law in force.

"One of the aims of the revision is to reduce the number of cases in which the imposition of punishment is left to the discretion of the authorities," Pope Francis said.

Meanwhile, Archbishop Filippo Iannone, head of the Vatican department overseeing the project, said there had been a climate of excessive indolence in the interpretation of criminal law, with some bishops sometimes placing mercy before justice.

Sexual abuse of minors is placed under a new section titled "Violations Against Human Life, Dignity and Freedom," compared to the previously obscure "Crimes Against Special Liability".

The new section was expanded to include crimes such as 'grooming' minors, or adults who are vulnerable to sexual abuse and possession of child pornography. This includes the possible dismissal of clerics who use threats or abuse their authority to coerce someone into sexual intercourse.

Last year, an internal report found former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick abused his authority, forcing seminarians to sleep with him. He was removed in 2019 on charges of sexually abusing minors and adults.

According to the new code, lay persons in positions of responsibility in the Church and found guilty of sexually abusing minors or vulnerable adults are punishable by the church as well as by civil authorities.

In addition to sexual crimes, the ordination of women is also included in this new law. Although the Church has historically prohibited the ordination of women and the prohibition has been reaffirmed by Popes, the 1983 law only says elsewhere that priesthood ordination is reserved only for a baptized man.

The revised code specifically warns that both those who try to consecrate a woman and the woman herself are automatically ostracized and risk clerics being removed.

In addition, there have also been several additions or revisions to the new law related to economic crimes, such as embezzlement of church funds or property or gross negligence in their administration.