These pages are intended to supply resources for people who want to examine the convoluted links between several documents issued by the Vatican and the US Bishops' approach to dealing with the pedophile crisis in the church.. 

• The document Crimen Sollicitationis is a 1962 confidential instruction to bishops concerning procedures that should be followed when a priest is accused of violating the sacrament of Confession by sexually propositioning or abusing a penitent. This document was subsequently superceded by the New Code of Canon Law of 1983.

• In the May 18 2001 Letter "Concerning very grave sins . . ." the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith outlines the procedures that should be followed in the official handling of certain serious offenses involving abuses concerning the administration of sacraments and the sexual abuse of minors by priests. Crimen Sollicitationis is prominently cited.

• Finally, here is a link to the revised Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People issued by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2002.  Note that the Charter defers to the May 2001 letter, and the letter is described as revision of the 1962 instruction in light of canon law.  In combination, the three documents appear to shift cases of clerical sexual abuse from criminal/civil state courts and the local diocese to the apostolic tribunal of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and attempt to bind everyone involved to vows of absolute secrecy.

 
• Here is the opinion of James E. Biechler, a canon lawyer, concening the appeal to Crimen Sollicitationis in the CDF's May 18, 2001 letter:

 

Date:         Tue, 5 Aug 2003 19:31:28 -0500 Reply-To:     "ARCC (Association for the Rights of Catholics in the Church)"                 <VATICAN2@LISTMAIL.TEMPLE.EDU> Sender:       "ARCC (Association for the Rights of Catholics in the Church)"                 <VATICAN2@LISTMAIL.TEMPLE.EDU> From:         "James E. Biechler" <jbiech@BMINET.COM> Ingrid and all, With the revised Code of Canon Law, promulgated in 1983, the instruction "Crimen sollicitationis" and the constitution of Benedict XIV "Sacramentum Poenitentiae" are superceded.  The code itself no longer has a list of delicts reserved to the Holy See for resolution.  The Ratzinger letter now gives a new list of cases reserved to the Holy See as well as instructions on the process to be followed.  It is obvious that the absurd specifications of the "Crimen" instruction are superceded.  No doubt some of the sexual abuse of minors may have been cases of solicitation but that still does not mean the "Crimen" document applies.  Even though the Ratzinger letter reserves these cases to the CDF it makes it clear that once the case is introduced the CDF may well determine that it should be handled by the local diocesan tribunal.  On the sexual abuse of minors (below the age of 16) canon 1395 gives the diocesan bishop the right to remove the offending priest from the ministry if the case warrants it.  Now the CDF wants to have a say! Hope this adds to the confusion! Jim

Here is my response to reports such as the following by Eric Convey in the Boston Herald of August 8, 2003: "Canon lawyers: Vatican paper didn't order cover-up. A Vatican document heralded recently as a blueprint for shrouding clergy sexual abuse in secrecy was in fact a narrow set of instructions for disciplining priests who used the confessional to solicit sex, canon lawyers said yesterday."
 

Date:         Fri, 8 Aug 2003 15:25:57 -0400 Reply-To:     "ARCC (Association for the Rights of Catholics in the Church)"                 <VATICAN2@LISTMAIL.TEMPLE.EDU> Sender:       "ARCC (Association for the Rights of Catholics in the Church)"                 <VATICAN2@LISTMAIL.TEMPLE.EDU> From:         Ingrid Shafer <ihs@IONET.NET> Subject:      Re: Canon lawyers: Vatican paper didn't order cover-up Let me add something to my previous message.  I should have written: It wasn't a smoking gun until Ratzinger turned it into one by dragging it out of oblivion and insisting not only that it was still   applicable until the "present" (May 18, 2001) AND should be followed by the bishops as they are dealing with abuse cases! He identified the letter as containing the result of a commission's deliberations and then conflated "grave delicts both in the celebration   of the sacraments and against morals" reserving jurisdiction  to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith!  In other words,  Ratzinger is using Crimen Sollicitationis to remove pedophile cases   from the jurisdiction of the local bishop (bypassing subsidiarity). Peace,  Ingrid