Angelus News | April 21, 2023 | Vol. 8 No

An accountability test
The pope’s update of ‘Vos Estis Lux Mundi’
extends abuse investigation reforms to lay
groups. But how will they be implemented?
BY JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Father Hans Zollner, SJ, Archbishop Charles J.
Scicluna of Malta, and Cardinal Blase J. Cupich of
Chicago, all members of the organizing committee
for a Vatican meeting on the protection of minors
in the Church, attend a press conference in 2019.
| CNS/PAUL HARING
ROME — Depending on who
you ask, Pope Francis’ 2019
decree “Vos Estis Lux Mundi”
(“You are the Light of the World”),
coupled with updates to the policy
announced March 25, is either a watershed
in the Church’s fight against
sexual abuse or a major disappointment
— or, perhaps, both at the same
time.
Originally issued in the wake of
a summit of the heads of bishops’
conferences from around the world to
discuss the abuse scandals, “Vos Estis”
was designed to promote a culture of
accountability, not just for the crime
of sexual abuse but also the cover-up.
For the first time, it created a mechanism
for investigating and sanctioning
bishops and other superiors charged
with failing to respond appropriately
to claims of abuse against personnel
under their authority.
The recent revisions announced
by the Vatican include making lay
leaders of Vatican-recognized groups
subject to the requirements of “Vos
Estis,” and also specifying that neither
accusers nor witnesses in a “Vos Estis”
investigation are required to maintain
confidentiality. It also stipulates that
abuse against “vulnerable adults,”
in addition to minors, can trigger an
investigation.
Archbishop Charles Scicluna of
Malta, the Vatican’s former chief prosecutor
of sex abuse crimes and widely
recognized as one of the Church’s
leading voices for reform, hailed the
20 • ANGELUS • April 21, 2023