Vatican commission seeks to address legal loophole facing women religious suffering abuse
Consecrated women and women religious who have suffered abuse face a significant legal loophole: Canon law and specialized commissions focus primarily on minors and adults with disabilities, leaving these women outside their scope of protection.
In practice, this means that if the victim is an adult who has received formation, it is assumed she can defend herself or that she consented. However, signs of change are beginning to emerge from the Vatican.
In addressing this issue, “it cannot simply be a label of ‘vulnerable adult,’” said Claudia Giampietro, an Italian canon lawyer working at the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors (PCPM).
“We must understand that there are situations of imbalances of power … and situations involving abuse, and so it is these situations of vulnerability that we need to examine more deeply,” she told EWTN News on July 1.
Claudia Giampietro, an Italian canon lawyer working at the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors (PCPM), during an interview on July 1, 2026. | Credit: EWTN News
One of the functions of the PCPM is to collaborate with the various dicasteries of the Roman Curia, the conferences and unions of…
