Vatican City – There are delicts against the Sacrament of the Eucharist and against the Sacrament of Penance; delicts committed by priests who acquire and disseminate pornographic material of minors; and also those who, in violation of Catholic Church discipline, attempt the sacred ordination of a woman.
These are serious and delicate offenses that will be addressed with rigor and a sense of ecclesial responsibility at the intensive course dedicated to the Delicts reserved to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the so-called “Delicta Graviora”.
The Course, promoted by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, begins this afternoon, Monday, January 12, in Rome, at the Pontifical Urbaniana University.
The intensive Course lectures will take place in the “John Paul II” Auditorium of the Pontifical University, which belongs to the Dicastery for Evangelization . Following the introductory address by Archbishop John Joseph Kennedy, Secretary of the Disciplinary Section of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, today’s program includes the first lecture on the historical context of the process that granted the Dicastery jurisdiction over “Delicta Graviora”. This lecture will be given by Professor Sebastián Terráneo, Lecturer in the History of Canon Law at the Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina
The program of the Course—which will conclude in June—aims to provide in-depth knowledge of the substantive and procedural aspects of legal issues related to delicts reserved to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
These are topics and procedures that may be of particular interest to diocesan curia officials and ecclesiastical tribunals, leaders of religious orders, and students who have already earned a degree in Canon Law.
Delicts that undermine the sanctity of the Sacraments
The “more grave delicts” , referred to in the Code of Canon Law and the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, are always committed against realities that are vital to the Church, starting with the Sacraments of the Eucharist, Penance, and Holy Orders. These crimes also include sexual abuse committed by a cleric against a minor under the age of 18.
Examples of “Delicta Graviora” include the theft or possession for sacrilegious purposes or the desecration of consecrated hosts, the direct violation of the seal of Confession in the sacrament of Reconciliation, and—among delicts against the sacrament itself—the absolution granted by the confessor to an accomplice in a sin against the Sixth Commandment of the Decalogue .
Changes in the last 25 years
In 2001, Pope John Paul II, with the Motu Proprio “Sacramentorum sanctitatis tutela,” conferred upon the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith the authority to deal with and judge particularly grave delicts under canon law, crimes for which other dicasteries had previously been responsible or whose jurisdiction was not entirely clear.
The 2001 Motu Proprio was accompanied by the document “Normae de gravioribus delictis,” which was updated and reformulated in 2010 with the approval of Pope Benedict XVI, who ordered its promulgation. This new document included, for the first time, offenses against the faith , the unlawful ordination of a woman to the priesthood, and the indirect hearing, recording, or dissemination of another person’s confession under the category of “delicta graviora.” Furthermore, the 2010 regulations on “Delicta Graviora” included the possession and distribution of child pornography by clergy among the most serious delicts and increased the statute of limitations for reported cases of sexual abuse of minors by clergy from 10 to 20 years, beginning when the victims reach the age of 18.
In 2021, Pope Francis promulgated a new version of the Norms on the most grave Delicts reserved to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, thus updating and amending the text promulgated by John Paul II in 2001 and revised by Benedict XVI in 2010. The norms published in 2021 did not add any new delicts reserved to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, but introduced new elements concerning mainly procedural aspects, aimed at facilitating the proper conduct of the Church’s criminal proceedings for the administration of justice.
The intensive Course inaugurated today at the Pontifical Urbaniana University represents an appropriate and valuable opportunity to keep abreast of the latest developments in the norms governing the treatment of Delicta Graviora over the past 25 years.
The teaching staff includes several Officials of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, who will provide information and data during the lectures, useful for facilitating the application of the norms to specific cases.
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