Crimen sollicitationis

The Latin expression crimina sollicitationis refers to sexual advances during administration (even simulated) of the Sacrament of Penance or immediately before or after

Crimen sollicitationis (Latin for "the crime of soliciting") was a confidential letter sent in 1962 by Cardinal Alfredo Ottaviani , Secretary of the Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office, to "all Patriarchs, Archbishops, Bishops and other Local Ordinaries, including those of Eastern Rite".

It laid down rules for procedures to be taken against clerics (priests or bishops) of the Roman Catholic Church accused of having used the sacrament of Penance to make sexual advances to penitents.

A revision of the document, in line with the 1983 Code of Canon Law (which had replaced the 1917 Code that was in force in 1962) and the 1990 Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches was issued in 2001 in the form of the Instruction De delictis gravioribus. An English translation of this 2001 Instruction appeared on Origins, 31:32 (24 January 2001).

Context in canon law

The kind of sexual advances dealt with in Crimen sollecitationis was specified in the 1917 Code of Canon Law as follows:

Canon 904. Ad normam constitutionum apostolicarum et nominatim constitutionis Benedicti XIV Sacramentum Poenitentiae, 1 Iun. 1741, debet poenitens sacerdotem, reum delicti sollicitationis in confessione, intra mensem denuntiare loci Ordinario, vel Sacrae Congregationi S. Officii; et confessarius debet, graviter onerata eius conscientia, de hoc onere poenitentem monere.
Canon 2368 §1. Qui sollicitationis crimen de quo in can. 904, commiserit, suspendatur a celebratione Missae et ab audiendis sacramentalibus confessionibus vel etiam pro delicti gravitate inhabilis ad ipsas excipiendas declaretur, privetur omnibus beneficiis, dignitatibus, voce activa et passiva, et inhabilis ad ea omnia declaretur, et in casibus gravioribus degradationi quoque subiiciatur

In accordance with the apostolic constitutions, in particular the constitution Sacramentum Poenitentiae of Benedict XIV of 1 June 1741, a penitent must within one month denounce to the Local Ordinary or the Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office a priest guilty of the crime of solicitation in Confession; and a confessor must, under a grave obligation of conscience, inform a penitent of this duty.

Anyone who has committed the crime of solicitation dealt with in canon 904 is to be suspended from celebrating Mass and hearing sacramental confessions and, if the gravity of the crime calls for it, he is to be declared unfit for hearing them; he is to be deprived of all benefices and ranks, of the right to vote or be voted for, and is to be declared unfit for all of them, and in more serious cases he is to be reduced to the lay state.

The 1983 Code of Canon Law is more succinct:

Canon 1387. Sacerdos, qui in actu vel occasione vel praetextu confessionis paenitentem ad peccatum contra sextum Decalogi praeceptum sollicitat, pro delicti gravitate, suspensione, prohibitionibus, privationibus puniatur, et in casibus gravioribus dimittatur e statu clericali.

A priest who in confession, or on the occasion or under the pretext of confession, solicits a penitent to commit a sin against the sixth commandment of the Decalogue, is to be punished, according to the gravity of the offence, with suspension, prohibitions and deprivations; in the more serious cases he is to be dismissed from the clerical state.

Outline of the letter Crimen sollicitationis

• Preliminaries (sections 1-14)
• Title One: First intimation of the crime (15-28)
• Title Two: The trial (29-60)
  • Chapter I: Investigation (29-41)
  • Chapter II: Canonical regulations and cautioning of the accused (42-46)
  • Chapter III: Summoning the accused (47-54)
  • Chapter IV: Conduct of the trial, verdict and appeal (55-60)
• Title Three: Penalties (61-65)
• Title Four: Official communication (66-70)
• Title Five: The most evil crime (71-74)
• Approval by Pope John XXIII on 16 March 1962
• Appendices:
  • Formula A: oath of office
  • Formula B: abjuration of errors
  • Formula C: absolution from excommunication
  • Formula D: delegating a person to receive a denunciation
  • Formula E: receiving a denunciation
  • Formula F: delegating a person to examine witnesses
  • Formula G: full examination of a witness (about the priest and the accuser)
  • Formula H: partial examination of a witness (about the accuser only)
  • Formula I: general examination of the accuser
  • Formula L: conclusions and proposal of the Promoter of Justice
  • Formula M: decision of the Local Ordinary
  • Formula N: admonition of the accused
  • Formula O: decree of arraignment
  • Formula P: examination of the accused
  • Formula Q: conclusions and proposal of the Promoter of Justice
  • Formula R: sentencing a convicted accused person who denies guilt
  • Formula S: sentencing a convicted accused person who admits guilt
  • Formula T: communication of the sentence to the accused

Contents

The purpose of the document was to indicate how to carry out a canonical investigation into accusations of solicitation. It described the procedures to be followed in each phase: reception of a denunciation; the course of the investigation, summoning the accused, sentencing, and the possibility of appeal

The result of the investigation could vary:

• if the accusation appeared to be unfounded, this was stated in the record and the documents containing the accusation were destroyed;
• if only vague evidence emerged, the case was filed away for use if fresh evidence appeared;
• if the evidence was strong but insufficient for arraigning the accused, he was given an admonition and the records were preserved with a view to any further developments;
• if the evidence was strong enough, the accused person was summoned and a canonical trial took place.

Quoting canon 2368 §1 of the then Code of Canon Law, Crimen sollecitationis indicated in section 61 the penalties that could be imposed after conviction. These penalties, such as suspension a divinis, deprivation of an office or rank, and reduction to the lay state, were of public character, even if the trial itself had been conducted with all due secrecy.

The same part of the document laid down that, in addition to those penalties and not as a replacement for them, penances should be imposed on guilty priests, and those in danger of repeating their crime should be subjected to particular vigilance (64).

Canon law imposed no legal obligation - though a moral one might exist - on anyone to denounce priests guilty of what the document Crimen sollicitationis called "crimen pessimum" ("the most evil crime"), namely homosexual acts actually carried out or at least attempted by a cleric (71), unless these acts were linked with the sacrament of Penance. Nevertheless, the 1962 document said that the same procedure was to be used against any cleric who happened to be accused of such acts (72).

Section 73 stated: "For its penal effects, any gravely sinful external obscene act that a cleric performs or attempts to perform with prepubescent children of either sex or with animals (bestiality) is treated as equivalent to the most evil crime." And the final numbered section (74) said that, unless solicitation in connection with Confession was involved, not only the local bishop but also superiors of religious orders exempt from the jurisdiction of the local bishop could proceed, either by formal trial or non-judicially ("modo administrativo"), against members of those orders who had committed such crimes, and that superiors of religious orders not exempt from the jurisdiction of the local bishop could do so for their members, but only non-judicially.

Secrecy of the trial

Speaking of the investigation of accusations of the crime of solicitation, section 11 of Crimen sollicitationis said:

Quoniam vero quod in hisce causis tractandis maiorem in modum curari et observari debet illud est ut eadem secretissime peragantur et, postquam fuerint definitae et executioni iam tradite, perpetuo silentio premantur (Instr. Sancti Officii, 20 febr. 1867, n. 14); omnes et singuli ad tribunal quomodocumque pertinentes vel propter eorum officum ad rerum notitiam admissi arctissimum secretum, quod secretum Sancti Officii communiter audit, in omnibus et cum omnibus, sub poena excommunicationis latae sententiae, ipso facto et absque alia declaratione incurrendae atque uni personae Summi Pontificis, ad exclusionem etiam Sacrae Poenitentiariae, reservatae, inviolabiliter servare tenentur.

Because of the greater care and vigilance that must be given to the subject matter of these cases, so as to ensure it is processed with maximum confidentiality and remains always secret (even) after the verdict is declared and put into effect (20 February 1867 Instruction of the Holy Office, 14), each and every person who in any way belongs to the tribunal or is given knowledge of the matter is obliged to keep inviolate the strictest secrecy (what is commonly called "the secrecy of the Holy Office") in all things and with all persons, under pain of automatic ("latae sententiae") excommunication, incurred ipso facto without need of any declaration other than the present one, and reserved to the Supreme Pontiff in person alone, excluding even the Apostolic Penitentiary.

The document thus imposed absolute secrecy on the subject matter of the trial, even after the trial had ended and its verdict, favourable or unfavourable, had been put into effect. An oath of secrecy was to be taken not only by the members of the tribunal but also by the person or persons denouncing the priest, by the witnesses, and by the accused priest himself, who was free to discuss the matter only with his defence counsel (13).

The oath of office to be taken by the members of the tribunal was given as Formula A:

... Spondeo, voveo ac iuro, inviolabile secretum me servaturum in omnibus et singulis quae mihi in praefato munere exercendo occurrerint, exceptis dumtaxat iis quae in fine et expeditiones [recte: expeditione] huius negotii legitime publicari contingat ... neque unquam directe vel indirecte, nutu, verbo, scriptis, aut alio quovis modo et sub quocumque colorato praetextu, etiam maioris boni aut urgentissimae et gravissimae causae, contra hanc secreti fidem quidquam commissurum, nisi peculiaris facultas aut dispensatio expresse mihi a Summo Pontifice tributa fuerit.

… I do promise, vow and swear that I will maintain inviolate secrecy about each and every thing brought to my knowledge in the performance of my aforesaid function, excepting only what may happen to be lawfully published when this process is concluded and put into effect … and that I will never directly or indirectly, by gesture, word, writing or in any other way, and under any pretext, even that of a greater good or of a highly urgent and serious reason, do anything against this fidelity to secrecy, unless special permission or dispensation is expressly granted to me by the Supreme Pontiff.

The ecclesiastical penalty for violation of secrecy by members of the tribunal was automatic excommunication. For the accused priest, it was only automatic suspension a divinis. No ecclesiastical penalty was imposed on accuser(s) and witnesses, unless violation of secrecy occurred after an explicit warning given in the course of their examination (13).

Purpose of the secrecy

Some interpret the secrecy as a cover-up of scandalous conduct. This view was presented in a BBC documentary film of 1 October 2006.

Others see it as aimed rather at the protection of all involved, the accused, the victim/denouncer and the witnesses, before the verdict was passed: "It allows witnesses to speak freely, accused priests to protect their good name until guilt is established, and victims to come forward who don’t want publicity. Such secrecy is also not unique to sex abuse. It applies, for example, to the appointment of bishops."

A presentation of the question, somewhat more balanced than either of the two views mentioned above, can be read in a study of 1 November 2006 by Thomas Doyle.

See also

Sex Crimes and the Vatican (2006) filmed for the BBC Panorama Documentary Series which details how the Vatican has used Crimen sollicitationis secret document to silence allegations of sexual abuse by priests and how Crimen sollicitationis was enforced for 20 years by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger before he became the Pope. [1]

External links

• Instructio. De modo procedendi in causis de crime sollicitationis, original text of Crimen sollicitationis (in Latin) with a few hand-written notes in English by someone perhaps interested in grounds for appeal against a decision
• private English translation, often obscure and inaccurate
• "Vatican Document Instructed Secrecy in Abuse Cases" by Kathleen A. Shaw in Worcester Telegram & Gazette, 29 July 2003. Accessed 3 September 2007.
• 1962 document orders secrecy in sex cases: Many bishops unaware obscure missive was in their archives by John L. Allen Jr., 7 August 2003 in National Catholic Reporter. Accessed 3 September 2007.
• Explaining Crimen Sollicitationis" by John L. Allen Jr., 15 August 2003 in National Catholic Reporter. Accessed 3 September 2007.
• The 1962 Vatican Instruction "Crimen sollicitationis" by Thomas Doyle. Accessed 3 September 2007.