Penal sanctions and precautionary measures in the context of canon 1398 CIC of 2021

Fr. Piotr Skonieczny OP’s chapter examines the range of penal sanctions and precautionary measures provided in canon law for clerics who commit offences against the sixth commandment with minors, as described in canon 1398 CIC of 2021. The author presents them step by step: first, penal remedies (warning, rebuke, penal precept, supervision), then disciplinary sanctions, followed by a detailed treatment of precautionary measures under canon 1722 CIC of 1983, and finally the penalties themselves, which refer back to the general norms on canonical penalties. He stresses that at each stage the ecclesiastical superior must be guided by the directive of canon 1311 § 2 CIC of 2021, namely to safeguard and promote the good of the community and of individual faithful, including victims, without shying away from penalties as ultima ratio, yet always aiming at restoring justice, correcting the offender, and repairing scandal. The chapter also clarifies the terminological distinction between “penal sanctions” (“sanctiones poenales”), a broader category, and “penalties” (“poenae”), which is crucial for choosing appropriate responses to the most serious canonical crimes.