Vatican to double statute of limitations on sex abuse cases

THE Vatican next week will revise Church law on sexual abuse of children by priests, doubling its own statute of limitations and introducing penalties for child pornography, Catholic Church sources said yesterday.

The changes come as Pope Benedict struggles to control the damage a sexual abuse scandal in Europe, including his native Germany, has done to the Catholic Church’s image.

The revisions will effectively make legal procedures about abuse cases known as “special faculties” – which were so far allowed only under exceptional circumstances – the global norms.