Victims’ Communication Pursuant to Article 15 of the Rome Statute Requesting Investigation and Prosecution of High-level Vatican Officials for Rape and Other Forms of Sexual Violence as Crimes Against Humanity and Torture as a Crime Against Humanity ICC File No. OTP-CR-159/11 Submitted on Behalf of The Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests And Individual Victims/Survivors 13 September 2011 www.ccrjustice.org TABLE OF CONTENTS INDEX OF APPENDICES AND EXHIBITS .................................................................................... iv I. BACKGROUND AND INTRODUCTION ............................................................................. 2 II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND ................................................................................................... 6 GOVERNMENT AND INTER-GOVERNMENTAL COMMISSIONS, INQUIRIES AND GRAND JURIES ............................................................................................................................... 8 CANADA ....................................................................................................................................... 8 IRELAND ..................................................................................................................................... 10 UNITED STATES ........................................................................................................................ 16 INTER-GOVERNMENTAL BODIES AND ORGANIZATIONS ............................................ 31 United Nations Committee Against Torture ................................................................................. 31 Report of Rapporteur to the Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe .............................................................................................. 33 FINDINGS OF CHURCH-APPOINTED COMMISSIONS AND EXPERTS, NON- GOVERNMENTAL REPORTS ALSO PRESENT EVIDENCE OF THE WIDESPREAD AND SYSTEMIC BASIS OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN THE CHURCH. ............................... 34 BELGIUM .................................................................................................................................... 34 GERMANY .................................................................................................................................. 34 UNITED STATES ........................................................................................................................ 36 COMMON PRACTICES FOUND IN DIFFERENT CONTEXTS THAT AID IN THE COVERUP OF CASES OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE. ................................................................... 37 Refusing to Cooperate with Civil Authorities ............................................................................... 37 Priest-shifting ................................................................................................................................ 38 Destruction of Evidence / Obstruction of Justice .......................................................................... 43 Punishing Whistleblowers, Rewarding Coverups ......................................................................... 44 OTHER EVIDENCE OF POLICIES AND PRACTICES THAT SERVE TO PERPETUATE THE VIOLENCE ............................................................................................................................ 46 Victim blaming ............................................................................................................................. 48 COMPLAINANTS AND WITNESSES ........................................................................................ 49 Wilfried Fesselmann ..................................................................................................................... 49 Benjamin Kitobo ........................................................................................................................... 50 Megan Peterson ............................................................................................................................. 51 Confidential Complaints 1, 2, and 3 ............................................................................................. 51 III. THE STRUCTURE OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ............................................................. 51 THE STRUCTURE: CHAIN OF COMMAND ........................................................................... 52 CHURCH STRUCTURE AND GUIDING POLICIES RELATED .......................................... 53 TO SEXUAL ‘ABUSE’ CLAIMS .................................................................................................. 53 ii IV. INDIVIDUAL HIGH-LEVEL VATICAN OFFICIALS ..................................................... 55 POPE BENEDICT XVI (PREVIOUSLY CARDINAL JOSEPH RATZINGER) .................... 55 CARDINAL ANGELO SODANO ................................................................................................. 57 CARDINAL TARCISIO BERTONE ............................................................................................ 58 CARDINAL WILLIAM LEVADA ............................................................................................... 58 INITIATION OF INVESTIGATION ........................................................................................... 59 THE SITUATION PRESENTED SATISFIES THE JURISDICTION REQUIREMENT IN THAT IT CONSTITUTES CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY ................................................. 61 The Conduct in Question Constitutes a "Widespread or Systematic Attack Directed Against a Civilian Population" ...................................................................................................................... 61 Rape and Sexual Violence are among "the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole." ................................................................................................................ 65 Rape and Sexual Violence in this Context May Also Constitute Torture. .................................... 66 V. INDIVIDUAL CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY: ................................................................ 69 THE HIGH-LEVEL VATICAN OFFICIALS SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED AND PROSECUTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE PRINCIPLES OF DIRECT AND SUPERIOR RESPONSIBILITY SET OUT IN ARTICLES 25(C) AND (D) AND 28(B) OF THE ROME STATUTE. ................................................................................................................ 69 VI. CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................... 71 iii INDEX OF APPENDICES AND EXHIBITS Appendix A – Expert Declarations Ex hi bit Document Title No . A- Expert Declaration by Thomas P. Doyle 1 A- Curriculum Vitae of Thomas P. Doyle 2 A- Expert Declaration by Patrick J. Wall 3 A- Curriculum Vitae of Patrick J. Wall 4 Appendix B – Vatican Documents B- ConstitutionSacramentum Poenitentiae, 1 1 June 1741, in Codex Iuris Canonici,Documenta, Document V in AAS 9 (1917), Part II, 505-508, available at http://www.richardsipe.com/patrick_wall/selected_documents/1741%20Sacramentum% 20poenitentiae.pdf. B- Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office Instruction, Codex Iuris Canonici Vol. 5, Curia 2 Romana, 20 Feb. 1866, available at http://www.richardsipe.com/patrick_wall/selected_documents/1866%20Instruction%20 on%20sacramentum%20poenitentiae.pdf. B- 1917 Instruction 3 Codex Iuris Canonici (1917), Providentissima Mater Ecclesia, Pope Benedict XV, 27 May 1917, 2368, par. 1 and 2359, par. 2, available at http://www.jgray.org/codes/cic17lat.html (in Latin). B- 1922 Instruction 4 1922 Instruction, On the manner of proceeding in cases of the crime of solicitation (Instructio de modo procedendi in causis sollicitationis), Vatican Polyglot Press (Rome, 1922), available at http://www.richardsipe.com/patrick_wall/selected_documents/1922%20Instruction.pdf. B- 1962 Instruction - (Crimen or Crimen Sollicitationis) 5 iv Instruction on the Manner of Proceeding in Cases of Solicitation, The DecreeCrimen Sollicitationis, The Vatican Press, 16 Mar. 1962, available at http://www.richardsipe.com/patrick_wall/selected_documents/1962%20English.pdf. B- Framework Report 6 Child Sexual Abuse: Framework for a Church Response, Report of the Irish Catholic Bishops‟ Advisory Committee on Child Sexual Abuse by Priests and Religious, Veritas Publications (Dublin, 1996). (a) Confidential Letter by Archbishop Luciano Storero, Apostolic Nuncio to Ireland, to the Members of the Irish Episcopal Conference, Regarding the Framework Document, 31 Jan.1997, available athttp://www.bishop- accountability.org/Vatican/Documents/1997_01_31_Storero_Letter_to_Irish_Bi shops.pdf. B- SST Letter 7 Pope John Paul II, Apostolic Letter, Given Motu Propio, Sacramentorum Sanctitatis Tutela, (30 April 2001), available athttp://www.bishop- accountability.org/resources/resource- files/churchdocs/SacramentorumAndNormaeEnglish.htm. (a) Italian (b) Portuguese B - The Norms of Motu Propio, Sacramentorum Sanctitatis Tutela, Historical Introduction, 8 Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith (2001). B- Sacramentorum Sanctitatis, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith(2001 with 2003 8 changes), available athttp://www.vatican.va/resources/resources_introd- storica_en.html. B- Letter from Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to Bishops of the Entire Catholic 9 Church, et al, Regarding the More Serious Offenses reserved to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 18 May 2001, available at http://www.bishop- accountability.org/resources/resource-files/churchdocs/EpistulaEnglish.htm.