After a series of headlines: computers inside the Vatican trolling internet BDSM porn-sites, revelations of a gay priest-hook up web-page operated by someone in Rome, and the now famous “gay lobby” quote from Pope Francis himself, the Holy Father has now overhauled the laws that govern the Vatican City State, criminalizing leaks of Vatican information and specifically listing sexual violence, prostitution and possession of child pornography as crimes against children that can be punished by up to 12 years in prison. The legislation covers clergy and lay people who live and work in Vatican City and is different from the canon law which covers the universal Catholic Church. I think if the Holy Father had to implement these reforms; it clearly speaks to the fact that there is indeed a problem that needed to be dealt with. It’s a bold and open step that definitively states that these deviant behaviors will not be tolerated.
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