Homepage

About Pontifical Secret

OPEN LETTER TO POPE LEO XIV

Your Holiness Pope Leo XIV,

I write to you not as a theologian or canon lawyer, but as a voice for victims, for truth — and for countless children silenced by the Catholic Church’s misuse of secrecy, power, and privilege.

For decades, the Vatican has protected perpetrators of child sexual abuse through internal secrecy over justice — under pontifical secrecy, knowingly moving known abusers between parishes, exposing more children to harm. These actions — documented in civil inquiries, royal commissions, and Kieran Tapsell’s “Potiphar’s Wife”— cannot be denied.

Your papacy offers a critical turning point. You have the power to begin a new chapter.

I respectfully urge you to:

  • enforce the classification of child sexual abuse as a grave crime with mandatory, permanent penalties;
  • extend the same penalties to bishops and clergy who conceal or cover up these crimes — and explicitly define such cover-ups as grave crimes;
  • introduce a one-strike policy: if a priest is found guilty of abuse, they must be dismissed from the clerical state;
  • remove all protections of pontifical secrecy in abuse cases — past, present, and future;
  • support full cooperation with civil justice systems in every country.

These actions will not undo the past, but will show the Church no longer tolerates the intolerable.

Justice demands it. Survivors deserve it. Jesus died for it.

With respect and hope for a renewed Church,

Joolsmagools®️ 👫 B4 ⛪️

11th May 2025

 
Link to “Kieran Tapsell.  Pope Francis Abolishes the Pontifical Secret Over Child Sexual Abuse” via John Menadue – Pearls and Irritations Blog dated 20DEC2019.
 
 
(My views are happily influenced by Kieran Tapsell, author of  “Potiphar’s Wife: The Secret of the Holy Office and Child Sexual Abuse”.  I recommend Tapsell’s book, his research and views on “Crimen Sollicitationis” and “Pontifical Secret”.
 
 
 
* AKA “Secret of the Holy Office”, “Secreta Continere”, “Papal Secrecy” & “Papal Secret”. Highest form of Secrecy, Code of Silence, Veil of Secrecy, Secrecy, Obligation of Silence, Obligation of Secrecy, Sulla riservatezza delle cause, “On the Confidentiality of Legal Proceedings”)
Madonnina
Pope Francis abolishes pontifical

Latest Posts

Instruction crime of solicitation
News

NCR first exposed Catholic Church’s sex abuse scandal 40 years ago this month

NCR exposed Catholic Church Title: NCR first exposed Catholic Church’s sex abuse scandal 40 years ago this month Author: Ryan Di Corpo Publisher: National Catholic Reporter (NCROnline) Date: 19JUN2025 Forty years ago this month, readers of the National Catholic Reporter first learned through a series of three articles about a dark secret in the Catholic

Read More »
News

New Jersey can have a grand jury investigate clergy sex abuse allegations, state high court rules

New Jersey Grand Jury Title: New Jersey can have a grand jury investigate clergy sex abuse allegations, state high court rules Author: Mike Catalini Publisher: AP News (Associated Press) Date: 17JUN2025 TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey can have a grand jury examine allegations of clergy sexually abusing children, the state’s Supreme Court ruled Monday,

Read More »
Pontifical Secret The Biggest wart of all
Opinion

A Pending Element of Tackling The Abuse Crisis: Transparency

Transparency Twin Sibling of Silence Title: A Pending Element of Tackling The Abuse Crisis: Transparency Author: Paulina Guzik Publisher: OSVNews Date: 15JUN2025 (OSV News) — While much was done during Pope Francis’ pontificate to tackle the global abuse crisis — a crisis moving at differing speeds in the church, depending on the country — one significant

Read More »
Pontifical Secret The Biggest wart of all
Opinion

How will Pope Leo tackle the sex abuse crisis?

Title: How will Pope Leo tackle the sex abuse crisis? Author: Colleen Dulle Publisher: America Magazine (America Media) Date: 12JUN2025 A month into Pope Leo XIV’s pontificate, images of artwork created by the disgraced priest Marko Rupnik began disappearing from the Vatican News website—a departure from the Vatican’s earlier stated policy of keeping the artwork

Read More »