Pope Francis speaks as he presides over the “24 Hours of the Lord” at the parish of Santa Maria delle Grazie al Trionfale, on March 17, 2023 in Rome. (Photo by Filippo Monteforte / AFP)
By Catholic News Agency
Mar 27 2023
Pope Francis permanently decreed on Saturday, March 25, an updated version of Vos estis lux mundi, his landmark legislation to counter sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.
The decree promulgated March 25 extends the Church’s norms for handling of abuse to cover lay leaders of international associations of the faithful recognized by the Vatican.
Vos estis lux mundi (“You are the light of the world”) reaffirms an obligation to report cases of “vulnerable adult” victims of abuse, including violence against religious women by clerics and cases of harassment of adult seminarians or novices by a superior.
It also includes protections for people who witness acts of abuse, in addition to those who submit reports of alleged abuse, stipulating that no “obligation of silence” may be imposed on those who report, witness, or are victims of abuse.
The new norms will go into force on April 30 and replace the pope’s previous provisional version of Vos estis lux mundi published nearly four years ago.
The norms regard what are called, in canon law, “delicts against the sixth commandment of the Decalogue,” consisting of sexual acts with a minor or vulnerable person; forcing someone to perform or submit to sexual acts through violence, threat, or abuse of authority, and the production or possession of child pornography.
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