The changes to Book IV of Canon Law, which are penal sanctions in the church, are detailed in an Apostolic Constitution called Pascite Gregem Dei (Tend the Flock of God).

“The main criteria for the revision of the penal law can be summarized in three points. First, better determination of the norms: setting out clearly the cases in which the penal system is to be applied and how offences are to be punished. Benchmarks are now also set to guide the action of the Ordinary while respecting the necessary margins for evaluating specific circumstances”, said Bishop Arrieta

“The second criteria have been the protection of the community: establishing when to prevent an announced scandal and recompensate for the damage caused.”

“Finally, a third objective has been to provide the authority with adequate instruments to be able to prevent offences, to promote amendments or to be able to prevent offenses before they can become more and more serious.”

Full Story on Vatican News
Apostolic Constitution Pascite Gregem Dei’s “New Book VI of the Code of Canon Law“.

[embeddoc url=”https://sacbc.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/FRANCIS_PASCITE-GREGEM-DEI.pdf” download=”all” viewer=”browser”]