Acta Benedicti Pp. XVI 691

guidelines does not seem to have led to significant improvements in the

Diocese of Cloyne until 2009.

(c) Canonical difficulties

The Framework Document correctly recognizes the need to respect both

civil and canon law.

With regard to canon law, it states: "In responding to complaints of child

sexual abuse, Church authorities must also act in accordance with the require-

ments of the Code of Canon Law and must respect the rights and uphold the

safeguards afforded in that Code both to those who complain of abuse and to those

who are accused. The Church has its own inherent right to constrain with penal

sanctions its members, including priests and religious, who commit offences.

These penal sanctions are clearly indicated in the Code of Canon Law"

(cfr. c. 1311ff (pp. [14]-[15]).

Turning to the question of the canonical difficulties alluded to by the

Congregation for the Clergy, it should be pointed out that since both canon

and civil law hold to the principles that everyone has a right to his or her

good name and that an accused person is presumed innocent until proven

guilty, both ecclesiastical and civil authorities rightly insist on the necessity

of due process and respect for the basic rights of all the parties involved. In

addition, the Congregation itself is bound by canon law and has no power to

modify it. Hence, whatever observations the Congregation made in relation

to the Framework Document had to take into account the canonical norms

then in force. As explained below, in order to respond more effectively to the

problem of child sexual abuse, important changes were introduced to the

relevant canonical legislation from 2001 onwards.

While the Framework Document does recognize the need for compatibility

with canon law, the Congregation for the Clergy - as Archbishop Storero's

letter explains - noted that the definitive text of the Framework Document

contained procedures and dispositions which appeared contrary to canonical

discipline. In pointing this out, the Congregation did not reject the Framework

Document. Rather, it offered advice to the Bishops with a view to ensuring

that the measures which they intended to apply would prove effective and

unproblematic from a canonical perspective. For this reason, the Congrega-

tion drew attention to the requirement that these measures should be in

harmony with canonical procedures in order to avoid conflicts that could

give rise to successful appeals in Church tribunals. The Holy See, in recognis-