I’m reading that as the prescription, or statute of limitations, runs out after 10 years, or 10 years from the age of 18, if the victim was a minor when the abuse occurred. So they have until they are 28 to report the crime which will begin the ecclesiastical trial. How is this covering anything up? It says nothing about secrecy unless the seal of the confessional is involved.
t must be noted that the criminal action on delicts reserved to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith is extinguished by a prescription of 10 years.(11) The prescription runs according to the universal and common law;(12) however, in the delict perpetrated with a minor by a cleric, the prescription begins to run from the day when the minor has completed the 18th year of age.
As is Rome's usual manner, nothing is simply stated or clear. But these sentences state that secrecy is to be extended for 10 years after the victim reaches the age of 18.
Ratzinger's letter to each of the bishops was to remind them that CRIMEN SOLLICITATIONIS was still in effect.
Note paragraphs 11, 13 and 14a.
Here's a story by John Allen, CNN Vatican correspondent and Ratzinger's hand-picked biographer/apologist...
The document was itself to be kept secret. Instructions on Page One direct that it be stored in the secret archives of each diocese, and that it not be published or commented upon. Msgr. Thomas Green, canon law expert at The Catholic University of America, told NCR Aug. 4 that unlike most church legislation, Crimen Sollicitationis was never published in the official Vatican bulletin Acta Apostolicae Sedis. The document recently came to light because it was referenced in a footnote to a May 18, 2002, letter from Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, head of the Vatican's doctrinal congregation, to the bishops of the world regarding new procedures for sex abuse cases...... Paragraph 11 of the document stipulates that such cases are covered by the "secret of the Holy Office," today known as pontifical secrecy, the strictest form of secrecy in church law. Excommunication is prescribed for anyone who violates this secrecy.
The part of the story by Allen saying it's possible some bishops weren't even aware of the letter is hilarious, but typical of Rome's inept defense of the indefensible. I'm sure lots of bishops ignore letters from the Chief Inquisitor marked "SECRET" all the time.