The new documentation, released online Wednesday by the Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, appeared to defend the pope against claims that as head of the Vatican's doctrinal office he was part of a culture of inaction and delay that failed to swiftly discipline priests who had abused minors.
The article cited in particular a 1988 letter that the pope, then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, sent to the Vatican calling for “a swifter and simplified” procedure for disciplining priests “found guilty of grave and scandalous conduct.”
In the letter, he added that such procedures “ought in some cases, for the good of the faithful, to take precedence over the request for dispensation from priestly obligations, which, by its nature, involves a ‘grace' in favor of the petitioner.”
In reply, his interlocutor suggested that such reforms might infringe on a priest's ability to defend himself against false accusations, and the Vatican did not immediately adopt the cardinal's request.
The letters appear in a lengthy article by Bishop Juan Ignacio Arrieta, the deputy of the Vatican's office of legislative texts, about changes to the Vatican penal code. The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said that the letters had emerged in discussions about the code, and that “it seemed useful to publish them now.”
Last month, the Vatican said it would soon issue new guidelines to bishops explaining how to discipline abusive priests, including by cooperating with civil authorities when required.
For years, bishops had complained of widespread confusion about how to handle abuse accusations and said they faced a daunting bureaucratic and canonical process with overlapping jurisdictions in Rome.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/02/world/europe/02pope.html?ref=world&pagewanted=print
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
EDITOR'S NOTE: Here's another related article:
$30 Million Is Awarded Over Abuse by Priest
by Laurie Goodstein
New York Times
December 2, 2010
A jury in Delaware on Wednesday awarded $30 million in compensatory damages to a man who said he was sexually abused more than 100 times by a Roman Catholic priest — the largest such award granted to a single victim in a clergy abuse case, victims' advocates said.
In an unusual outcome, the jury decided that the parish where the abuse occurred, St. Elizabeth in Wilmington, must pay $3 million of the damages, while the perpetrator is liable for the rest. Parishes have previously been held liable in only one or two cases involving abuse by Catholic priests, according to records kept by an advocacy group for victims known as bishopaccountability.org.
It is usually the diocese or the religious order, not the parish, that is held responsible for damages. But the Diocese of Wilmington, which covers all of Delaware, declared bankruptcy last year just as the lawsuit was going to trial, so this lawsuit as well as more than 100 pending lawsuits against the diocese was frozen.
The jury is set to hear evidence on punitive damages on Monday. Thomas S. Neuberger and Stephen J. Neuberger, father-son lawyers for the plaintiffs, say they have saved the most damning evidence for this phase, and that the award to the plaintiff could grow substantially beyond the compensatory damages.
The abuse occurred in the 1960s. But Delaware and California passed “window” laws in recent years that temporarily lifted the statutes of limitations, allowing old cases like this one to be filed. Catholic dioceses in several other states, including New York, have successfully lobbied against such laws.
The plaintiff, John M. Vai, is one of seven people who have filed lawsuits alleging abuse by Francis DeLuca, a former priest whose defrocking was announced by the diocese in 2008.
St. Elizabeth parish is a large church with an elementary school, a high school, and three resident priests. The Rev. Norman Carroll, the parish pastor, said he could not talk about the case because it was continuing. Mr. Vai, the plaintiff, testified that the parish was negligent in his abuse. He said that when he was a small boy being hauled up the stairs to his abuser's bedroom in the rectory, he was spotted by another parish priest, who is now a diocesan official. The official, Msgr. Thomas Cini, testified that he was unaware of the abuse.
Another witness testified that other priests in the parish were aware of Mr. DeLuca's behavior.
The Rev. Thomas Doyle, a Catholic priest who was an expert witness for the plaintiff in this case and many others, said, “This was egregious because of the level of direct knowledge imputed to priests who lived there at the time.”
The bishop of Wilmington, W. Francis Malooly, apologized in a statement to Mr. Vai and other victims. But he said that the bishop of the diocese, not the parishes, should be held responsible for the actions of priests.
“It is unfortunate that the parish community of St. Elizabeth's is being made to pay for the criminal and sinful acts of someone who was assigned by the diocesan bishop at the time to be one of their priests,” he said.
But Thomas Neuberger said that the diocese had so far promised in bankruptcy proceedings only $2 million toward settlements with victims.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/02/us/02church.html?ref=us&pagewanted=print | 
