Regardless of whether they are convicted, two regional church leaders who are facing charges in connection with the alleged sexual abuse of minors by a Kansas City reverend may be penalized under the Catholic Church's canon law. Recently, in fact, a Vatican prosecutor told reporters that church officials would be held accountable under canon law for failing to properly deal with abusive priests.

Certainly, canon law will not take the place of state criminal law. The latter will determine whether church officials will be convicted for allegedly not reporting the child pornography they saw on a reverend's laptop computer. At least one bishop and the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph will go to trial in September for failing to report their suspicions of child abuse.

However, because of the parallels between canon law and secular law, the local church officials may face similar charges from the Catholic Church.

Canon law is a legal system that was originally created more than 1,000 years ago to dictate church governance and lay out a legal system which includes rights and standards of evidence for church lawyers and judges. In 2002, bishops in the United States created a section of the laws known as the "Essential Norms" to dictate how the church should handle allegations of child sexual abuse. The Vatican was quick to recognize and accept the norms.

According to Vatican officials, canon law requires bishops and other clerics to report suspected child abuse to civil authorities and cooperate with their investigation. Any evidence of such abuse, such as the child pornography images reportedly found in the case at issue in Kansas City, triggers the reporting requirement.

It is not clear how the Vatican punishes church officials who violate canon law. However, this definitely adds an interesting layer to child abuse cases that will soon be prosecuted in St. Louis and throughout the country.

Source: The Kansas City Star, "Vatican prosecutor warns bishops to follow church law on child abuse," Mark Morris, Feb. 9, 2012