ROME — Pope Francis has broadened the Roman Catholic Church’s definition of sexual abuse by revising its penal code to explicitly acknowledge that adults, and not only children, can be victimized by priests and powerful laypeople who abuse their offices and standing among the faithful. The revisions are part of the church’s continued process of seeking to address gaps in its response to the sexual abuse scandal that has devastated the Roman Catholic faith over the last quarter century. The changes reflect a new appreciation in the church that power dynamics can be a key factor in abuse. Church law previously considered sexual relationships between clerics and consenting adults as sinful, but not a crime (though rape and assault were already considered crimes). Francis has consistently viewed the clerical sexual abuse scandal of minors through the prism of priests abusing their power.

Source: New York Times June 01, 2021 11:44 UTC