A. If a bishop receives a complaint that he or another bishop113Or a Cardinal, Nuncio, Apostolic/Diocesan Administrator, Personal Prelate, Personal Ordinary, Vicar Apostolic, Prefect Apostolic, Supreme Moderator of an institute of consecrated life or society of apostolic life, or the head of a monastery sui iuris. has done one of the things listed in (1) or (2) above he must (regardless of how credible it is, and without prejudice to civil law obligations) send the complaint to both the Holy See and the Metropolitan of the accused.
- If the Metropolitan himself is accused, or if that see is vacant, the complaint is sent to the senior suffragan by promotion (i.e. the one who has been suffragan the longest) who must do everything that the Metropolitan would otherwise do.
- If the complaint is about the Nuncio, it is sent directly to the Secretariat of State.
- The accused bishop cannot be told about the accusation at this stage, although in many cases the accused may know anyway and may even be the initial recipient of the complaint.
- The Metropolitan cannot undertake any sort of preliminary investigation, beyond gathering the basic details of where, when, who, etc.
B. The Metropolitan must either (i) request that the Holy See allow him to investigate or (ii) tell the Holy See that he thinks that the Report is manifestly unfounded.
C. Within thirty days, the Holy See will tell the Metropolitan how to proceed or appoint someone else to investigate the Report.
- The Metropolitan is obliged to recuse himself if he thinks that there is a conflict of interest or if he thinks he cannot act impartially, and then follow the directions of the Holy See.
D. The Metropolitan, on his own or through others, must investigate the case in accordance with the rules in VELM and the instructions of the Holy See114The Conference may issue directives about how investigations are to be carried out and the provincial bishops may draw up lists of people who would be best placed to help the Metropolitan (e.g. safeguarding experts, civil and canon lawyers, investigators, etc.), who might be locals or be from elsewhere, but who must be impartial and free from conflicts of interest.. The Metropolitan must send the Holy See an update every thirty days. If the Holy See allows him, the Metropolitan may tell the accused and question him and allow him to present his defence, with the assistance of an Advocate.
E. Unless the Holy See directs otherwise, the investigation must be completed within ninety days, although the Metropolitan may ask the Holy See to extend this115If the police are looking into the matter, or civil proceedings are outstanding, the Metropolitan should ask the Holy See at the very beginning to pause the process until those matters are completed, although only the Holy See can decide whether to do so..
F. During the investigation the Metropolitan may ask the Holy See to adopt preliminary restrictions on the accused.
G. At the end of the investigation the Metropolitan must send all the acts (transcripts of interviews, copies of documents, etc.) to the Holy See, along with his written opinion on the veracity of the complaint, specifically answering any points raised by the Holy See in their instructions. The Holy See can order further instruction or can call on the Metropolitan to inform the accused of the outcome. Otherwise at this stage the Metropolitan's role is concluded.
H. The Holy See will then proceed to judge the complaint in accordance with the law.
March 2020