The Vatican has secret guidelines in place for any priests who father children despite their vows of celibacy, it has been revealed.
Speaking to the New York Times, Vincent Doyle the son of a Catholic priest, revealed he was once shown the official document during a trip to Rome where he was seeking justice for the children of Catholic ministers.
The Vatican has confirmed the existence of these rules, with spokesman Alessandro Gisotti confirming to the newspaper that “these guidelines exist” while adding that it is “an internal document”.
According to Gisotti, the main concern of the internal guidelines is the “protection of the child”.
He explained that, under the rules, any priest fathering a child is asked to leave the priesthood and "assume his responsibilities as a parent by devoting himself exclusively to the child."
However, the New York Times received differing information on the subject from another Vatican official.
According to Monsignor Andrea Ripa, under-secretary in the Congregation for the Clergy at the Vatican, the guidelines serve as more of a formality than an order.
The revelations come against the backdrop of sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic church with a growing number of priests and victims coming forward.
Pope Francis recently moved to acknowledge, for the first time, the rape and sexual abuse of nuns by priests and bishops operating within the Catholic Church.
"I believe that it may still be being done. It's not a thing that from the moment in which you realize it, it's over. The thing goes forward like this. We've been working on this for a long time," he said during a flight returning from the United Arab Emirates.
Catholic bishops also confirmed plans for a four-day summit in Rome that will centre on the issue of clerical sexual abuse.
