[Dr. Eckleburg]

CRIMEN SOLLICITATIONIS, paragraph 13...

13. The oath of keeping the secret must be given in these cases also by the accusers or these denouncing [the priest] and the witnesses.

Ratzinger's 2001 letter to all the bishops clearly spelling out that the church's supposed jurisdiction and oath of secrecy run for 10 years beyond the victim's 18th birthday, regardless of the age of the victim when he was sexually molested by a priest...

FROM THE DESK OF JOE RATZINGER

...It 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...

The "prescription" is silence by all involved.

And finally, the dastardly Guardian article that dared to say it like it is...and was...

POPE OBSTRUCTED SEX ABUSE INQUIRY

...The letter states that the church's jurisdiction 'begins to run from the day when the minor has completed the 18th year of age' and lasts for 10 years.

It orders that 'preliminary investigations' into any claims of abuse should be sent to Ratzinger's office, which has the option of referring them back to private tribunals in which the 'functions of judge, promoter of justice, notary and legal representative can validly be performed for these cases only by priests'.

'Cases of this kind are subject to the pontifical secret,' Ratzinger's letter concludes. Breaching the pontifical secret at any time while the 10-year jurisdiction order is operating carries penalties, including the threat of excommunication...

[Dr. Eckleburg]

Thanks for the additional links. Ping to 27.

[metmom]

How anyone can excuse this is beyond me.

And yet there’s no end to the number of Catholics who are willing to condemn non-Catholics for criticizing priests who molest children.

This whole secrecy thing is so vile.

[Petrosius]

You have been corrected in your deliberate misrepresentations many times. Crimen solliciationis only covers crimes committed during Confession. Thus it applies to only a handful of the cases. The oath of secrecy only applies to the internal church judicial process. Victims were always able to make a criminal report to the police. You have conveniently, and dishonestly, left out the next sentence from para. 13: "To none of these, however, is there subjection to a censure, unless by chance the person himself, for his accusation, his deposition or of his violation (Excussionis?) [or such] by act." Accusers and witnesses are expressly exempted from penalties for violating the oath. Thus your statement that “Rome has made it an excommunicable offense to go to anyone other than someone within the church hierarchy with accusations against a priest” is an outright lie.

The "prescription" is silence by all involved.

This falsehood I will chalk up to your ignorance of canon law and its technical terms. "Prescription" is the criminal action "prescribed" by law. The question of its time period is what in U.S. law is call the "statute of limitations".

It seems to escape your understanding that the whole purpose of Crimen sollicitationis and canon law is due process and punishment in internal criminal investigations which run parallel to the normal criminal investigations by the state.

[sayuncledave]

Nice try. Not. You haven’t proved your point with official Roman Catholic Church documents. Instead, you attempted to misrepresent one thing as another. Next time you make the attempt, at least make a try to find something applicable. Heck, make a decent effort. This time, FAIL. I will still pray for you. God bless, Dr.