Posts Tagged ‘Vos estis lux mundi’

Focolare Movement report highlights decades of sexual abuse

Thursday, July 20th, 2023
Focolare Movement

In March this year, the Focolare Movement released its first internal report on cases of sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable adults within its ranks, highlighting decades of abuse. Focolare, founded in 1943, is one of the largest lay organisations in the Catholic Church, with representation in 194 countries and boasting over 2 million people Read more

Pope introduces new law – the moment of reparation

Monday, May 8th, 2023

Making reparation to clergy sex abuse survivors is critical, Pope Francis told the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors on Friday. “The sexual abuse of minors by clergy and its poor handling by Church leaders has been one of the greatest challenges for the Church in our time. “Now is the time to repair Read more

Francis’ final abuse norms: key questions remain

Thursday, March 30th, 2023

Pope Francis has issued definitive rules for handling abuse complaints in a final version of the 2019 document, Vos Estis Lux Mundi. The definitive rules of Vos Estis, which take effect in May, add to the original document on several specific points: Along with complaints of abuse by clerics and religious, the policies are also Read more

Pope Francis extends ‘Vos estis’ decree to counter lay and clerical abuse

Monday, March 27th, 2023

Pope Francis permanently decreed an updated version of Vos estis lux mundi, his landmark legislation to counter sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. The decree promulgated March 25 extends the Church’s norms for handling of abuse to cover lay leaders of international associations of the faithful recognized by the Vatican. Vos estis lux mundi (“You Read more

Pope’s key clergy abuse reform ‘not working’

Monday, March 6th, 2023
abuse reform

The pope’s key clergy abuse reform effort is not working, says a papal consultant. Jesuit Fr Hans Zollner made the admission last Thursday to a group of clergy survivors of sexual abuse. Speaking in an online session, Zollner was asked if there is recourse for those who feel their cases have not been properly handled. Read more

Church opens canonical investigation into Bishop Saunders

Thursday, September 29th, 2022
canonical investigation into Bishop Saunders

The Holy See has initiated a canonical investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against former Broome Bishop Christopher Saunders. In a rare statement released on Saturday night, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference said a Vos Estis Lux Mundi investigation was underway. “The Holy See has initiated a canonical investigation into former Broome Bishop Christopher Saunders, with Read more

Vatican’s ‘Vos estis’ records protected argues archdiocese

Thursday, September 15th, 2022
sex abuse records are protected

The Archdiocese of New York has argued that records compiled under ‘Vos estis lux mundi,’ a Vatican-ordered sexual abuse investigation of a retired bishop are protected by the First Amendment. In 2019, Albany Bishop Howard Hubbard, along with two other priests was accused of sexually abusing a female in the late 1970s when she was Read more

Vos Estis Lux Mundi is not working

Monday, June 13th, 2022
Vos Estis Lux Mundi

Anne Barrett Doyle of the group BishopAccountability.org recently wrote a thoughtful article on how Pope Francis’ major law to hold bishops and religious superiors accountable for abuse they commit or cover up, Vos Estis Lux Mundi (“You Are the Light of the World”), is not working. That article caused me to reflect on the long-standing, Read more

New Vatican law on abuse cover-up has hit-and-miss week

Monday, September 16th, 2019
abuse cover-up

When the Vatican announced new procedures to hold bishops accountable in May, the main question was: Will it work? The legislation – called Vos Estis Lux Mundi – enacted what is known as the Metropolitan Model, in which archbishops would play a prominent role in policing those bishops in their ecclesiastical province. This week, the Read more

Lay advisors want Vatican to release McCarrick files

Thursday, June 13th, 2019

Lay advisers to the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) want the Holy See to be more open about former archbishop Theodore McCarrick. They want the USCCB to ask for all the relevant documents and the results of diocesan and archdiocesan investigations about McCarrick to be released. Both the National Advisory Council to the US Read more