--- description: The Catholic Church is reportedly telling newly ordained bishops that they have no obligation to report child-sexual-abuse allegations title: No Obligation to Report Child Abuse, Vatican Tells Bishops image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt097e5b2211640a7b/69887d23ab6d77aa0e6a85f8/gettyimages-508079948.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Catholic Church Tells Bishops They Are Not Obliged to Disclose Child Sex Abuse: Report by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 11, 2016 9:28 AM CUT  Cardinals take part in a mass in St. Peter's Basilica for the 20th World Day of Consecrated Life of the Catholic Church at the Vatican. Cardinals take part in a mass in St. Peter's Basilica for the 20th World Day of Consecrated Life of the Catholic Church at the Vatican.Pacific Press—2016 Pacific Press by [Rishi Iyengar](/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Feb 11, 2016 9:28 AM CUT The Catholic Church is allegedly [telling](http://www.cruxnow.com/church/2016/02/07/what-new-catholic-bishops-are-and-arent-being-told-on-sex-abuse/ "undefined") newly ordained bishops that they have no obligation to report child-sexual-abuse allegations to law-enforcement officials, saying instead that the decision to take such claims to the authorities should be left to victims and their families. The policy was first reported by a veteran Vatican journalist at Catholic news website Crux, who cited a presentation given by French Monsignor Tony Anatrella. Anatrella, a consultant to the Pontifical Council for the Family and the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers, also authored a training document for new bishops released by Church authorities last week, in which similar guidelines are laid out. “According to the state of civil laws of each country where reporting is obligatory, it is not necessarily the duty of the bishop to report suspects to authorities, the police or state prosecutors in the moment when they are made aware of crimes or sinful deeds,” his document states, [according](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/10/catholic-bishops-not-obliged-report-clerical-child-abuse-vatican-says "undefined") to a citation in the _Guardian_. Victim-support groups have reacted with fury to the revelation, [according](http://www.upi.com/Top%5FNews/World-News/2016/02/11/Vatican-Bishops-not-required-to-report-abuse/6031455170063/ "undefined") to news agency UPI. Crux adds that the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors — a major body created by Pope Francis last year to establish “best practices” for the church in its battle against child abuse — was not involved in the training process. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4216974/vatican-guidelines-sex-abuse-bishops-training/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4216974/vatican-guidelines-sex-abuse-bishops-training/"},"headline":"Catholic Church Tells Bishops They Are Not Obliged to Disclose Child Sex Abuse: Report","datePublished":"2016-02-11T09:28:32.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:58:43.295Z","description":"Report says the church has told prelates that decision should be made by the victims and their families","url":"https://time.com/4216974/vatican-guidelines-sex-abuse-bishops-training/","keywords":["Religion","Pope Francis topic","sexual abuse","Catholic Church","training"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt097e5b2211640a7b/69887d23ab6d77aa0e6a85f8/gettyimages-508079948.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rishi Iyengar","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt097e5b2211640a7b/69887d23ab6d77aa0e6a85f8/gettyimages-508079948.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"GettyImages-508079948","caption":"VATICAN CITY, VATICAN - 2016/02/02: Cardinals take part in a mass in St. Peter's Basilica for the 20th World Day of Consecrated Life of the Catholic Church at the Vatican. 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