The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) today approved revisions to the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People. The bishops are meeting for their spring assembly in Seattle.
The charter was adopted in 2002 and was already revised in 2005.
The revisions bring the charter into line with the most recent Vatican instructions in this area, including specifically mentioning child pornography as a crime against Church law and holding that abuse of someone who habitually lacks reason, for example, someone with mental retardation, is equivalent to child abuse.
