A new law published Friday makes clear that Vatican city-state prosecutors and judges have jurisdiction over Holy See cardinals and bishops and need only the pope’s consent to proceed with investigations and trials against them. The law abrogated a regulation that said only the tribunal’s highest appeals court, which is made up of three cardinals, could judge cardinals and bishops accused of criminal offenses.

The bishop is the first U.S. Church leader to undergo an investigation pursuant to Vos Estis Lux Mundi (You Are the Light of the World), Pope Francis’ 2019 motu proprio, which holds bishops accountable for negligence in responding to allegations of sexual abuse involving minors and lays out universal procedures for investigating bishops accused of sexually abusing minors or vulnerable adults or of failing to remove others credibly accused.

Williams and Massingale said the church needs to overhaul how it selects, screens and trains potential priests and clergy members. Williams said he's concerned that the formation process for young men going into ministry hasn't been radically changed in response to the abuse crisis. He said he sees young priests entering ministry with "abject racism and sexism" and a lack of pastoral skills, which he said speaks to a deeper issue with the formation process. "The vestiges are still there that will bring fruit later in continuing episodes of abuse … . If [young priests] have not been formed well enough in these basic skills, then there are some demons buried there, that will come to fruition. And this crisis will be ongoing," Williams said.

“There is no evidence that the Church as a whole and the Archdiocese of Milwaukee hasn’t already taken all possible steps in addressing issues surrounding clergy sexual abuse. We also do not understand the legal basis for the inquiry. We also question why only the Catholic Church is being singled out for this type of review when sexual abuse is a societal issue."

In 2002, the U.S. bishops enacted the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, known as the Dallas Charter, its most essential feature being the "zero tolerance" approach to sex abuse. Such an approach is not fair. It fails to distinguish between inappropriate touching and a rape. And it ruined men who otherwise were outstanding pastors and gifted human beings.

Catholics’ hearts “are broken by this” scandal, she said. “All priests’ hearts are broken by this, although most of them have carried the burden unbelievably well. We deeply believe that faith and spirituality is part of our healing,” she said, and that “engaging in a constructive dialogue with the Church can help bring more pastoral care to survivors who need it and can’t find it.”

People working in canon law usually don’t have this kind of experience when it comes to canonical crimes, he said, resulting in poorly worded questions and not following up on what a person says. A precise and professional line of questioning also helps in “trying to unmask a lie,” he added. “There are many, many cases, the majority I would say, that are true (accounts of abuse), but, unfortunately, right now we are seeing an increase in which there are many false accusations,” he said, or sometimes the accused is found guilty without sufficient proof.

The Cardinal Pell case highlights the awkward situation that would prevail if a canonical process came to a different conclusion than a criminal or civil process. Imagine a priest convicted of equally impossible charges, but without the resources to appeal the case to the High Court. If a canonical investigation concluded that the wrongfully convicted priest was innocent, would the Church have the courage to make that finding, with its attendant consequences?

Jesuit Fr. Damián Astigueta, professor of canon law at the Gregorian University, wrote that transparency does not mean universal or public access to sensitive or confidential information, but it is sharing information with those who have a right to see it. Authorities in charge of investigating and acting on accusations must seek the truth and follow the principles of real justice, which guarantees due process, the right of defense and presumption of innocence for the accused.

The law firm DeMoura Smith considered “the totality of the evidence gathered,” assessed the credibility of witnesses “and applied a preponderance of the evidence standard to its work.” The firm said in its “professional opinion and judgment,” Grimes’ claims “are not only not credible but are also false.”

I believe insurance companies, and the lawyers who work for them, depend on failed claims for their business model. In other words, their legal defence strategy is inherently adversarial and positional, and aims to minimise or deny loss. In the last 15 years, some insurers have recognised another important strategy – settling cases is less costly than fighting them all the way to court.