Pope revises church law with clear penalties for sexual abuse

The Vatican has introduced the first major law change in four decades

The Vatican has introduced the first major law change in four decades Source: SBS

SBS News In Depth
View Podcast Series
Download the SBS Audio appAvailable on iOS and Android

Pope Francis has changed Catholic church law to explicitly criminalise the sexual abuse of minors by priests who abuse their authority.

Share

Latest podcast episodes

A screenshot of the video announcement by Al-Fateh Qurashi Bashir, RSF spokesman (AP).jpg
A teenage boy interacting with his mobile phone
Party Time co-hosts featured wearing party hats
Election 2025 NYC Mayor

Recommended for you

A pile of Australian $100 banknotes
A farmer in navy pants and a top leaning on a tractor, with grassy crop land and a blue sky in the background.
A man in a suit talking, gesturing with his hand. The Australian Federal Police and Centrelink Logo are in the background.
A man saluting an Australian flag, he wears a navy jacket decorated with medals.
Artist Peter Drew stands by three posters wearing an orange hi-vis shirt. The posters show three people of different ethnicities with the text AUSSIE emblazoned below.
A man gestures with missiles and arrows behind him
A man wearing a button shirt and trousers sleeping underneath a tree in hot weather.
A doctor and two patients are sitting at a table during a consultation. Only their hands are visible. The doctor's hands are on a table beside a stethoscope, tablet and laptop. He is wearing a white doctor's gown. The patients' hands are visible in front of the doctor.

Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Follow SBS News
facebook
X (Twitter)
instagram
youtube
tiktok
rss
Download our apps
SBS News
iOSAndroid
SBS Audio
iOSAndroid
SBS On Demand
iOSAndroid
Listen to our podcasts
SBS News Update
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
SBS News In Depth
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
SBS On the Money
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
SBS News in Easy English
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.
Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch nowOn Demand
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world