Pope Francis, the current sitting leader of the Church, has changed the church laws in order to criminalise priests that take advantage of their authority and sexually abuse adults.
The new rules of the Vatican will see non-ordained members of the Catholic Church, which includes principles and parish economists to get penalised.
The changes were announced by the church on June 1, 2021.
It belongs to a revised criminal law section of the Vatican’s Code of Canon Law, the Church’s in-house legal system.
The changes come in a bid to stop the abuse of minors within the religion.
The revised legislation comes after 14 years of study and accepts the fact that adults can also be victimised by priests just like kids and young adults can.
Under the new law, priests who engage in sexual activity with anyone can be stripped of their title if they used force, threats, or abuse of their authority to carry out such activity.
Punishment for this one now includes dismissal from the clerical state if the case so warrants.
That’s not the only change that was brought to the Code.
Another change includes grooming of minors and vulnerable adults by priests who encourage them to engage in pornography.
Bishops can also be removed from the office for culpable negligences if they do not report sex crimes to the authorities.
Before this change, sexual relationships between priests and consenting adults was only considered sinful. But thanks to the new laws, they are now criminalised.
What are your thoughts on the new changes that were brought to the Code? Let us know what you think about them by leaving a comment in the comments section below!