Crimen Sollicitationis

[Tony_B]

Hello,

     I am hoping to get a better picture of this 1962 document.  It recently came into the picture with the airing of a BBC documentary in 2002.  It presented a very nasty picture of the Church which many believe to be true.     

     A search on Google helps, but looking for a Vatican response in 2002 +.  Any info or guidance would be appreciated.   

     Thanks.

Tony B.

 

[Scottgun]

Hello,

I am hoping to get a better picture of this 1962 document. It recently came into the picture with the airing of a BBC documentary in 2002. It presented a very nasty picture of the Church which many believe to be true.

A search on Google helps, but looking for a Vatican response in 2002 +. Any info or guidance would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Tony B.

Normally I avoid National Catholic Reporter, but this is reasonable:

bishop-accountability.org/resources/resource-files/timeline/2003-08-15-Allen-ExplainingCrimen.htm

Money quote:

I spoke with several top canon lawyers, who told me the document was being taken out of context. Its obscurity meant it had not had the impact being attributed to it, and in any event, it dealt only with canonical procedures. It did not order anyone not to cooperate with civil or criminal investigations.

I would also point out that this document relates to the seal of confession. Since the penitent is perfectly within his rights to break the seal in a manner of speaking, it can no way be taken to be a gag-order document for the victims. Anyone who wants to make hay out of this with you needs to show proof that this specific document was the cause of a cover-up. Ain’t gonna happen.

I am unaware of any official Vatican response. If the Vatican answered every calumny against it, it wouldn’t have time for anything else.

Scott

 

[1ke]

You can find information here

 

[Scottgun]

Thanks for that link 1ke. I bookmarked because this comes up every now and then.

Scott

 

[teajay]

I’ve blogged on this before. My post brings together a lot of information on the topic and should be useful to anyone with any questions on the topic.

Crimen sollicitationis