Letter of Cardinal Re to Bishop Gregory
Vatican City, December 8, 2002
Your Excellency,
With your letter dated November 15, 2002, you requested the recognition
for the "Essential Norms for Diocesan/Eparchial Policies Dealing with Allegations
of Sexual Abuse of Minors by Priests or Deacons", approved by the Episcopal
Conference at the Plenary Assembly of the United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops which took place in Dallas on June 13-15, and revised in the recent General
Meeting held in Washington on November 11-14.
I am pleased now to send you the Decree of recognito for the "Essential
Norms", and wish to express renewed and sincere appreciation for the pastoral
concern and resolve with which the bishops of the United States have address
the distressing situation caused by such aberrant crimes.
The Holy See is fully supportive of the bishops' efforts to combat and to
prevent such evil. The universal law of the Church has always recognized this
crime: as one of the most serious offenses which sacred ministers can commit,
and. has determined that they be punished with the most severe penalties, not
excluding - if the case so requires - dismissal from the clerical state (cf. Canon
1395 § 2). Moreover, the Holy Father in the year 2001 already had determined
that this crime should be included among the most serious delicts ("graviora
delicia") of clerics, to underscore the Holy See's aversion to this betrayal of the
trust which the faithful rightly place in Christ's ministers, and to ensure that the
guilty will be appropriately punished. He therefore gave to the Congregation for
the Doctrine of the Faith a special competence in this matter, applicable for the
whole Church, establishing a particular procedure to be followed (cfr. Motu
proprio "Sacramentorum sanctitatis tutela" of May 18, 2001, AAS, 93, 2001,
p. 737).
Enclosure
The Most Reverend Wilton D. Gregory
President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
3211 Fourth Street N.E.
Washington, D.C. 20017-1194
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Prot N_ 612102
December 8, 2002
As the Holy Father has affirmed on various occasions, the Holy See is
spiritually united to the victims of abuse and to their families, and encourages
particular concern for them on the part of the bishops, priest and the whole
Catholic community. This closeness is now once again confirmed through the
approval of the present "Essential Norms", which will help to restore, wherever
necessary, the trust of the faithful in their pastors, assuring at the same time the
defense of the innocent and the just punishment of the guilty.
The "Essential Norms" in their present formulation are intended to give
effective protection to minors and to establish a rigorous and precise procedure
to punish in a just way those who are guilty of such abominable offenses
because, as the Holy Father has said, "there is no place in the priesthood and
religious life for those who would harm the young".
At the same time, by ensuring that the true facts area ascertained, the
approved Norms protect inviolable human rights – including the right to defend
oneself - and guarantee respect for the dignity of all those involved, beginning
with the victims. Moreover, they uphold the principle fundamental in all just
systems of law, that a person is considered innocent until either a regular process
or his own spontaneous admission proves him guilty.
The genuine ecclesial communion between the Episcopal Conference and
the Apostolic See, demonstrated once again in these painful circumstances,
prompts us all to pray earnestly to God that from the present crisis might emerge,
as the Holy Father has stated: "a holier priesthood, a holier episcopate, and a
holier Church" (cf. L'Osservatore Romano, 24 April 2002). In this way, the
bonds of communion which unite the bishops with their priest and deacons, and
the faithful with their pastors, will be further strengthened.
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Prot. N. 612/02
December 8, 2002
The Holy See, moreover, together with the bishops of the United States,
feels duty-bound in justice and in gratitude to reaffirm and defend the good name
of the overwhelming majority of priests and deacons who are and have always
been exemplary in their fidelity to the demands of their vocation but have been
offended or unjustly slandered by association. As the Holy Father has said, we
cannot forget "the immense spiritual, human and social good that the vast
majority of priests and religious in the United States have done and are still
doing". Indeed, it appears necessary to devote every available resource to
restoring the public image of the Catholic priesthood as a worthy and noble
vocation of generous and often sacrificial service to the People of God.
As regards religious priests and deacons I would ask the representatives
of the Episcopal Conference to continue to meet with the representatives of the
Conference of Major Superiors of Men to examine more closely the various
aspects of their particular situation, and to forward to the Holy See whatever
agreements they may reach
With the promise of prayers for your important work in serving the United
States Conference of Catholic Bishops, I remain
Sincerely yours is Christ,
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re
Pref.