The Vatican on Thursday made sweeping revisions to its laws on sexual abuse, doubling a statute of limitations for disciplinary action against priests and extending the use of fast-track procedures to defrock them. In an unexpected move, the Vatican also codified the "attempted ordination of a woman" to the priesthood as one of the most serious crimes against Church law.
The changes, the first in nine years, affect Church procedures for defrocking abusive priests. They make some legal procedures, which were so far allowed under an ad hoc basis, the global norms to confront the crisis.
Under the revisions, the statute of limitations for sexual abuse cases was increased to 20 years after the victim's 18th birthday from 10 years under the old rules, meaning victims will be able to file charges until they are 38 years old. Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said the statute of limitations could be extended even further in some cases.
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