New York Times
June 13, 2013
he International Criminal Court in The Hague has decided not to investigate or prosecute the former pope and other leaders of the Roman Catholic Church on allegations of covering up the sexual abuse of children by priests.
Victims of sexual abuse filed a complaint
in 2011 asking the court to prosecute Benedict XVI, then the pope, and
three other Vatican officials for what they called an international and
systemic cover-up of sexual abuse that amounted to “crimes against
humanity.”
The court responded in a letter dated May 31 that after analyzing the
complaint, it had determined that the matters “do not appear to fall
within the jurisdiction of the court.” The letter said that “some of the
allegations” fell outside the court’s jurisdiction, which is to
prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
In addition, the case did not appear to meet the court’s time limits.
For the most part, the court may prosecute only crimes committed after
it was constituted in July 2002, and even though the cases submitted by
the victims involved more recent allegations, some of the supporting
material predated 2002.
The court said that “the decision not to proceed may be reconsidered in
the light of new facts or information,” and suggested that the cases
could be brought to “appropriate national or international authorities.”
The outcome was exactly what many international and human rights lawyers had anticipated. Barbara Blaine of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests,
or SNAP, the victims advocacy group that initiated the case, said,
“We’re neither deterred nor discouraged by this news.”
Pamela Spees, a lawyer with the Center for Constitutional Rights who
handled the case for the victims group, said that she knew it faced
“many hurdles,” but that it was worthwhile because abuse victims from
many countries had stepped forward after hearing about the case being
taken to the International Criminal Court.
“We’re talking about people from more than 70 countries, survivors in
Africa and Latin America who were isolated before, and who now have a
whole different understanding of what happened to them and how it
relates to the church,” she said.
Ms. Spees said she had delayed making the letter public to give her
enough time to notify the victims in various countries who had presented
their cases to the court.
The complaint named Benedict, who stepped down in February and is now
pope emeritus; Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican’s secretary of
state; Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the previous secretary of state; and
Cardinal William J. Levada, an American who formerly led the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican office
designated to receive cases of clergy sexual abuse forwarded by bishops.
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