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Vatican used Latin orders to cover up sex abuse cases

The Vatican instructed Catholic bishops around the world to cover up cases of sexual abuse or risk being thrown out of the Church.

The London-based Observer newspaper has obtained a 40-year-old confidential document from the secret Vatican archive which lawyers are calling a "blueprint for deception and concealment." One British lawyer acting for Church child abuse victims has described it as "explosive."

The Latin document bearing the seal of Pope John XXIII was sent to every bishop in the world. The instructions outline a policy of "strictest" secrecy in dealing with sexual abuse.

They also call for the victim to take an oath of secrecy at the time of making a complaint to Church officials. It states that the instructions are to "be diligently stored in the secret archives of the Curia [Vatican] as strictly confidential. Nor is it to be published nor added to with any commentaries."

The document, which has been confirmed as genuine by the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, is called Crimine solicitationies, which translates as "instruction on proceeding in cases of solicitation."

Bishops are instructed to pursue these cases "in the most secretive way ... restrained by a perpetual silence ... and everyone ... is to observe the strictest secret which is commonly regarded as a secret of the Holy Office ... under the penalty of excommunication."
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