(ZENIT News / Rome, 26.02.2025).- Here is a translation in English of the response of the Dicastery for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts, last September 5, 2024, to the question of a Bishop related to the publication of names of the deceased accused of sexual abuse. The response has been made public as it was published on the Website of the same Dicastery at the end of February 2025.
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On the duty to respect the bona fama defuncti (c. 220) in current Canon Law,
Prot. 18316, September 5, 2024
Vatican City, September 5, 2024
Very Reverend Monsignor,
I acknowledge receipt of your letter of last July 3, in which you requested this Dicastery for an opinion on the matter of the “bona fama defuncti” [“good reputation of the deceased,” not] in the current canonical conception. After a careful examination of this delicate question, having collected the opinion of two esteemed expert canonists on the matter, I am pleased to communicate to you the following observations.
Canon 220 establishes a general principle that prohibits calumny and defamation (cf. also in nos. 2477-2479 CCC), affirming that “it is not licit for anyone to injure illegitimately the reputation one enjoys.” This means that, in some cases, the harm to the good reputation can be legitimate, for instance, to avoid any danger or threat to people or the community; consequently, it would not be at all legitimate when such a risk can be reasonably excluded, as in the case of alleged deceased offenders, in which there can be neither a legitimate nor proportionate reason for the harm of the reputation. Hence, it does not seem admissible to justify the publication of such news for alleged reasons of transparency or reparation (unless the subject gives his consent and, therefore, excluding again deceased persons). However, the legal problem is not reduced to the impossibility of defending oneself from the accusations of a deceased person, without it affecting at last two principles of law universally accepted.
1)the principle of presumption of innocence of every person until proof – judicial – to the contrary and definitive (see also can. 1321 §1);
2)the principle of non-retroactivity of the crime, in virtue of which one cannot judge and, consequently, not even accuse – for a conduct that in the moment of its possible commission did not constitute a crime from a formal point of view. Criminal norms are only applied pro futuro (cf. cc. 9; 18;1313) and cannot be applied to acts and conducts that in the moment of their commission did not constitute grievances or crimes.These principles, of structural scope, cannot reasonably be annulled by a generic «right to information» that makes public any kind of news, no matter how credible it may be, to the concrete detriment and existential damage of those personally involved, even more so if it is inaccurate, or even unfounded or false, or completely useless, such as that relating to deceased persons. Moreover, to determine if an accusation is “founded” often rests on a non-canonical foundation and requires a relatively low level of proof, which gives place to the publication of the name of a person simply accused, but an accusation not proved, without the benefit of any exercise of the right of defense.
In conclusion, having as an inalienable legal basis the affirmation of the Supreme Pontiff Francis that «the publication of lists of accused must be avoided, even by the dioceses, before the preliminary investigation and the definitive sentence» 1, the answer can only be negative regarding the disclosure of hidden information relating to any person, even more so when dealing with deceased persons. Hoping to have provided you with a useful opinion, I take this opportunity to greet you very cordially.
In the Lord,
Filippo Iannone
Prefect
Juan Ignacio Arrieta
Secretary
Translation of the Italian original by ZENIT’s Editorial Director and, into English, by Virginia M. Forrester.
