In a letter dated 5 September 2024, and just days ago posted on their website, the Dicastery for Legislative Texts condemned the practice of publishing “list of credibly accused clerics.”
Citing Pope Francis and basic principles of law regarding the right to reputation and the right to the presumption of innocence, the dicastery charged with the proper interpretation of canon law solidly reaffirmed the illegitimacy of the practice of publishing names of priests merely accused of criminal behavior.
I have prepared an unofficial English translation of the original letter, which was written in Italian. The official letter is posted on the website of the Dicastery under the tab “Chiarimenti Normativi,” then under the heading “Risposte Particolari,” and finally under the category “CIC.” At present it is listed as the fifth pdf entry, with the title “Circa il dovere di rispettare la bona fama defuncti (can. 220) nella vigente normativa canonica, Prot. 18316, 5 settembre 2024.” Here is a direct link: https://www.delegumtextibus.va/content/dam/testilegislativi/CHIARIMENTI%20NORMATIVI/Ch%20Normativi%20Risp%20Particolari/Chiar%20normativi%20CIC/Prot.18316_2024_Circa%20dovere%20pera%20bona%20fama%20defuncti%20can.%20220.pdf.
This letter is extremely significant, as it represents the most recent statement in a series of statements [see here [n.14], here [nn. 45-46] here [n. 193] and here [fn 5]] that strongly condemns a practice which is, sadly, widespread in the USA at present. Anyone who wishes to may now cite this letter in a respectful communication to any diocese or religious order that is publishing the types of lists condemned in this official communication from the Holy See.
The same Dicastery has already warned that “an imprudent management of the news could constitute in certain cases the delict referred to in canon 1390 §2,” i.e., crimes against reputation. Punishment for this delict could include the removal from an ecclesiastical office. Even if not a crime, any damage wrongfully inflicted on a person’s good name must be repaired. See “Penal Sanctions in the Church, User Guide for Book VI of the Code of Canon Law,” available on the Dicastery’s website in English at https://www.delegumtextibus.va/content/dam/testilegislativi/TESTI%20NORMATIVI/Testi%20Norm%20CIC/Libro%20VI/LibroVIsussidio/Penal%20sanctions%20User%20guide.pdf.
[Unofficial Translation]*
Dicastery for Legislative Texts
N. 18316/2024 Vatican City, 5 September 2024
Most Rev. Bishop,
I hereby acknowledge your letter of last July 3, in which you asked this Dicastery for an opinion on the issue of bona fama defuncti in the current canonical understanding. After a careful examination of the delicate question, having sought the opinion of two esteemed canonists who are experts in the field, I am pleased to communicate to you the following observations.
Canon 220 establishes a general principle prohibiting slander and defamation (see also paragraphs 2477-2479 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church), declaring that “it is not lawful for anyone to illegitimately injure the reputation one enjoys.” This means that in some cases the injury to a good reputation may be legitimate, for example to avoid any danger or threat to persons or the community; consequently, it would not be legitimate at all when such a risk is reasonably to be excluded, as in the case of alleged criminals who are deceased, where there can be neither legitimate nor proportionate reason for the injury to reputation. Thus, it does not seem permissible to justify the publication of such news for alleged reasons of transparency or reparation (unless the subject is consenting and thus again excluding deceased persons). However, the legal problem is not limited to the impossibility of defending oneself against accusations by a deceased person, but concerns at least two universally accepted principles of Law:
1) the principle of the presumed innocence of anyone, until proven – judicially – to the contrary and in a definitive manner (see also can. 1321 §1);
2) the principle of non-retroactivity of crime, whereby one cannot be judged – and consequently not even charged – for conduct that at the time of its eventual commission did not constitute a crime from a formal point of view. Criminal norms apply only pro futuro (cf. cann. 9; 18; 1313) and cannot apply to acts and conduct that at the time of their realization constituted were neither illicit, nor crimes, nor offenses; for example, with regard to so-called omissions of general supervisory duties.
Such principles, which are structural in scope, cannot reasonably be overridden by a generic “right to information” that puts into the public domain any kind of news, however “credibly,” to the concrete detriment and existential harm of those who are personally involved, all the more so if it is inaccurate, or even unfounded or false, or completely useless such as that concerning deceased persons. Moreover, the determination of whether an allegation is “well-founded” often rests on a non-canonical foundation and demands a relatively low standard of proof, resulting in the publication of the name of a person merely accused, but of an unproven accusation, without the benefit of any exercise of the right to defense.
In conclusion, having as an undeniable legal foundation the statement of the Supreme Pontiff Francis that “it is necessary to prevent the publication of lists of the accused, even by dioceses, before the prior investigation and final condemnation,”[1] the answer can only be negative with respect to divulging occult news concerning anyone, all the more so when it concerns deceased persons.
Hoping to have provided a useful opinion, I take this opportunity to extend to you my most cordial greetings,
In the Lord,
+ Filippo Iannone, O.C.
Prefect
+ Juan Ignacio Arrieta
Secretary
[1] Pope Francis, Meeting on “the Protection of Minors in the Church,” Points of Reflection, 21 February 2019, https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2019/02/21/190221f.html.