Pope Francis ordered priests to report sexual harassment of his colleagues

The Pope Francis on Thursday issued an Apostolic message - an official document of the Catholic Church - dedicated to the struggle against sexual violence and harassment by priests.

In recent years, the church has been shocked by numerous scandals associated with harassment to children and attempts to hide the facts of harassment from high -ranking church hierarchs. And dad had previously announced the need to uncompromisingly fight these phenomena. In February of this year, the first meeting of the cardinals and other high -ranking church figures dedicated to the development of measures to combat harassment took place in the Vatican.

In the new document , all priests and monks are ordered to inform the church authorities about all cases of harassment or attempts to hide them. It also indicates that priests must comply with the laws of the states where they serve, and notify the “competent civil authorities” about violations of the law.

The document also provides for measures to protect those who make such messages, from persecution, reports Radio Liberty . The document applies to the events that occurred in the past. All representatives of the church are also ordered to provide all possible support and assistance to the alleged victims of harassment.

Experts consider the new apostolic message as the most serious attempt to develop measures to combat sexual violence in the church, not only in relation to children.