WRITTEN QUESTION E-2612/03 by Maurizio Turco (NI), Marco Pannella (NI),Marco Cappato (NI) and Gianfranco Dell'Alba (NI) to the Council. Crimen Sollicitationis Instruction issued by the Supreme and Holy Congregation of the Holy Office of the Holy See to cover up sexual abuse by clergy.
Date: 2003-08-28
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Holy See, clergy, confidentiality, diplomatic relations, document, judicial cooperation, sexual offence

20.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 70 E/119

(2004/C 70 E/121)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2612/03

by Maurizio Turco (NI), Marco Pannella (NI),
Marco Cappato (NI) and Gianfranco Dell’Alba (NI) to the Council

(28 August 2003)

Subject: Crimen Sollicitationis Instruction issued by the Supreme and Holy Congregation of the Holy Office

of the Holy See to cover up sexual abuse by clergy

On 6 August 2003 the American CBS network revealed a document of
the ‘Supreme and Holy
Congregation of the Holy Office’ (now called the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith but originally
the Sacred Congregation of the Roman and Universal Inquisition) which had been kept secret since 1962.

This document, entitled the Crimen Sollicitationis Instruction, is addressed to all Patriarchs, Archbishops,
Bishops and other diocesan Ordinaries ‘even of the Oriental Rite’ on the manner of proceeding in cases of
solicitation and is dated 16 March 1962.

Destined to be ‘diligently kept in the secret archives of the Curia’, it gives the clergy strict instructions
regarding the conduct to adopt in cases of sex crimes committed by clergy against members of church
congregations.

The document shows that the Holy See has prescribed, adopted and caused to be adopted, proposed and
imposed upon the ecclesiastical authorities conduct aimed at preventing sex abuse by members of the
clergy from coming to public knowledge and to the knowledge of
the law, upon penalty of
excommunication.

Further, it is clear from the Apostolic Letter ‘Motu Proprio Datae Quibus Normae De Gravioribus Delictis’
signed by John Paul II on 30 April 2001 and from the epistle ‘De Delictis Gravioribus’ of the Congregation
for the Doctrine of the Faith signed by Cardinal Ratzinger on 18 May 2001 that, at least on these recent
occasions, the Crimen Sollicitationis Instruction has been reconfirmed and attention again drawn to it in
the light of
the Catholic
ecclesiastical world and of the scandals resulting from it.

the continual spread throughout recent decades of

this true scourge of

As further proof,
cooperate with the judicial authorities and police inquiries and the obstruction of justice.

if that were necessary, there has been widespread condemnation of the refusal to

In view of the European Union’s institutional and diplomatic relations with the Holy See, can the Council
say:

(cid:1) what enquiries, preventive measures, sanctions and diplomatic steps it intends to take in relation to
the fact that the instructions contained in these documents run counter to the policy of the Union and
of its Member States on human rights and fundamental freedoms and the fight against sexual abuse,
especially that against children and women?

(cid:1) whether it intends to ask the Holy See to remove these instructions which are clearly and explicitly
intended to prevent society, and in particular the administration of justice, from gaining knowledge of
a serious moral, social and political evil?

(cid:1) whether it intends to conduct an enquiry into the relations between the Member States and the
Vatican in order to ascertain whether the legal relations regulating them and giving the clergy
privileges with respect to the law of the Member States are in breach of international and European
law on fundamental rights and freedoms?

(cid:1) Whether it considers that Article 51 of the draft European Constitution urgently needs to be revised in
order to prevent national and European law from creating grey areas and impunity for the clergy?

C 70 E/120

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

20.3.2004

Reply

(5 December 2003)

The Council has no knowledge of the information reported by the Honourable Members.

The Council is not involved in the negotiations on the draft Constitutional Treaty, which fall within the
purview of the Conference of Representatives of the Governments of the Member States.

(2004/C 70 E/122)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2625/03

by Michel-Ange Scarbonchi (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

Subject: Establishment of a European civil protection corps

(2 September 2003)

The fires which recently swept through Europe, destroying several thousand hectares of vegetation,
highlighted the chronic lack of forest fire prevention and control resources. The Commission must respond
to such disasters with the utmost urgency.

While the existence of a European civil protection centre in which the EU Member States plus Iceland,
Norway and Liechtenstein are involved and the setting up on 18 August 2002 of a European Solidarity
Fund are a cause for some hope, given the devastating impact which fires have on the communities and
local councils concerned and the damage they cause to the environment and economic activities such as
forestry and tourism, fire-fighting resources need to be stepped up and new prevention and intervention
rules need to be laid down at European level.

The management of forests and other natural resources, which cover 60 million hectares in 25 countries
in the Mediterranean area, must remain an economic and social priority. The establishment of a European
civil protection corps would enable such disasters to be dealt with more effectively.

There are many arguments in favour of a new administrative and technical entity, which could be placed
under the supervision of the European Parliament and under the responsibility of the competent national
authorities, given that civil protection falls within the sphere of responsibility of the Member States.

In the run-up to the forthcoming enlargement, this would send out a strong signal in support of European
the
forests. What are the Commission’s views on this proposal? Can it
establishment of a European civil protection corps?

take action in support of

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(23 October 2003)

The Commission is already active in the field of civil protection. Following a Council Decision,
a Community mechanism to facilitate reinforced cooperation in civil protection assistance interventions (1)
has been set up, which provides a focal point for the 29 participating countries with a view to closer
coordination of civil protection in and outside the European Union.

The Civil Protection Response Centre has been operational 24 hours a day since 1 January 2002. It has the
task of facilitating European cooperation in emergencies. When assistance is requested, the centre can call
immediately upon the resources of the participating countries to deal with all types of major emergencies.
The centre played a very active role in dealing with the recent fires in Europe, deploying all the means
available under its mandate.

The idea of creating a European civil protection corps needs to be examined in detail to assess its
effectiveness properly.
In September 2003, the Commission started to consider whether it might be
appropriate to set up a European civil protection force as part of disaster response action to be taken by
the Community.