The legal guide to dealing with abuse cases in the church announced by the Vatican could appear before the summer. This is what the pope's chief investigator for sexual crimes, Archbishop Charles Scicluna, has said.
The document should list step by step how bishops and religious superiors have to deal with such cases and how prevention should look like, as Scicluna said in an interview with the Spanish newspaper "Vida Nueva" (Friday).
"A first draft is already available," said the archbishop of Malta. One wants to give with the letter also non-lawyers a guideline to the hand, in order to be able to answer arising questions.
Update Vademecum
However, there is a problem, according to the Vatican's chief enlightener: "When canon law changes, the Vademecum must also be updated."There are concrete considerations in the matter of canon law reform, said Scicluna. But it is not necessary to wait until the reform is perfect before publishing the guide, which is called the "Vademecum".