Ever since the 2002 revelations of deep-seated problems of child sexual abuse by members of the Catholic clergy, the most common question among the faithful — How could this have happened? — remains without an answer.
Since then, scores of reports related to ongoing patterns of sexual abuse and cover-up by the episcopacy have shown that not only has this crisis not been resolved, but it isn’t likely to end any time soon. And while many rightfully point the finger at wicked bishops, homosexual networks in the clergy and the fetid rot in seminaries, the fact of the matter is that all of these are mere symptoms of the issue.
One major source of the problem, however, is a legal loophole contained within the Code of Canon Law itself, which directly protects pedophile priests. Simply put, canon law prevents criminal perverts in the clergy from being properly prosecuted and punished. Not only does canon law make it impossible to reveal the homosexual and pederast networks existing among the clergy, but the nature of their perversion prevents punishment.
In 1917, the Code of Canon Law stood as a bulwark against perverted clergymen who engaged in various forms of sexual perversion by publicly proclaiming their infamy. In essence, those priests caught engaging in sexual abuse of minors, sodomy, incest and a host of other sexually deviant behaviors were to be “declared infamous,” meaning their crimes were to be revealed publicly so as to protect future victims, much like the sex offender registry currently in force in civil law.
Canon 2359, §2 of the 1917 Code of Canon Law states:
If [clerics] engage in a delict against the sixth precept of the Decalogue with a minor below the age of 16, or engage in adultery, debauchery, bestiality, sodomy, pandering, [or] incest with blood-relatives or affines in the first degree, they are suspended, declared infamous and are deprived of any office, benefice, dignity, responsibility, if they have such, whatsoever, and in more serious cases, they are to be deposed.
Read the rest at Lepanto Institute.