Significant changes in Catholic Church law, quietly approved by Pope John Paul II this month, will speed the church's legal process for ruling in the cases of sexually abusive priests who appeal their cases in church courts.
The changes will make it easier to remove offenders from the priesthood forever without requiring approval from the pope, Monsignor Charles Scicluna, a prosecutor with the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, told the Associated Press.
Of an estimated 1,200 priests nationwide who acknowledged, were convicted of or were accused of sexual abuse of minors in the past 40 years, about 300 were removed from the active priesthood in 2002, the year that the abuse scandal exploded nationwide. It's not known how many might appeal their cases in church courts, called tribunals.
In response to the scandal, the National Conference of Catholic Bishops approved a Vatican-dictated set of legal procedures for the USA intended to give victims their chance to confront priests while still providing due process and privacy for those accused. But critics said the procedures would create secret church courts and perpetuate the self-protective habits that allowed the scandal to fester for years.
On Feb. 7, the pope approved changes to:
* Allow deacons and lay people to serve on criminal tribunals in the Catholic Church, even as judges. In the past, only priests could.
* Expand the pool of potential judges by allowing them to have a license and experience in tribunals but not necessarily a doctorate in canon law.
* Give the Vatican office that currently deals with abuse cases, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, administrative authority to strip a priest of his profession, a power once reserved only for the pope.
Scicluna has been meeting in private with about 200 American canon lawyers in Washington, D.C., to review the changes and procedures.
''Potentially involving more lay people is always good, but true justice and real change will happen in the civil and criminal courts, not in secretive, bishop-run church structures,'' says John Salveson, head of the Philadelphia chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
The Rev. Robert Silva, president of the National Federation of Priests' Councils, praised the Vatican for showing careful attention to the crisis and establishing expedited procedures. But he said he has heard of only a ''relative few'' such appeals.