The Holy See has published a new Motu proprio of Pope Francis, effective May 1, which modifies the judicial system of Vatican City State.
The change occurs in Article 24 of the ordinance, which provided that cardinals and bishops accused of criminal offenses in the Vatican State could appeal to the Court of Cassation.
From now on they will be judged by the Tribunal of Vatican City State, like everyone else. The need for the prior authorization of the Pontiff to bring cardinals and bishops to trial remains in force, however.
The Pope himself has recalled in the publication of this Motu Proprio the words pronounced last March 27 during the Opening of the Judicial Year and in which he appealed to the need to establish a system of "equality of all members of the Church and their equal dignity and position, without privileges".
Text of the Motu Proprio
According to the Conciliar Constitution Lumen GentiumIn the Church all are called to holiness and have attained to the same faith through the justice of God; in fact, "there is an authentic equality among all in the dignity and action common to all the faithful for the building up of the Body of Christ" (n. 32). (n. 32). The Constitution Gaudium et Spes also affirms that "all men ... have the same nature and the same origin. And because they are redeemed by Christ, they enjoy the same vocation and the same destiny" (n. 29). This principle is fully recognized in the 1983 Code of Canon Law, which states in canon 208: "there is among all the faithful ... a true equality in dignity and action...".
The awareness of these values and principles, which has progressively matured in the ecclesial community, demands today an ever more adequate conformity with them also in the Vatican order.
In this regard, in my recent address at the opening of the Judicial Year, I wanted to recall "the priority need that - also through appropriate normative changes - in the current procedural system the equality of all members of the Church and their equal dignity and position come to the surface, without privileges that date back to other times that are no longer in keeping with the responsibilities that correspond to each one in the aedificatio Ecclesiae. This requires solidity in faith and consistency in behavior and actions.".
On the basis of these considerations, and without prejudice to what is provided for in universal law for some specific cases expressly indicated, it is now necessary to proceed with some further modifications to the judicial system of the Vatican City State, also to guarantee to all an articulated trial of multiple degrees in line with the dynamics followed by the most advanced legal experience at the international level.
Having said this, with this Apostolic Letter in the form of a Motu Proprio, decree that:
1. In the Law on the Judicial Order of 16 March 2020, n. CCCLI, in art. 6, the following paragraph is added after paragraph 3: "4. In causes involving the Most Eminent Cardinals and the Most Excellent Bishops, outside the cases provided for in canon 1405 § 1, the tribunal judges with the prior assent of the Supreme Pontiff";
2. In the Law on the Judicial Order of 16 March 2020, n. CCCLI, art. 24 is repealed.
I so decree and establish, notwithstanding any provision to the contrary.
I decree that this Apostolic Letter in the form of a Motu Proprio be promulgated by publication in L'Osservatore Romano and enter into force on the following day.
Given at Rome, from the Apostolic Palace, on April 30, 2021, the ninth year of my Pontificate.
Franciscus
