Abuse Obligation to report crimes in the church soon in the Ticino parliament
In November, the Ticino cantonal parliament will decide on the obligation to report criminal offenses in the church environment. The debate on an amendment to the law was triggered by the surprisingly lenient verdict in the trial against a Ticino priest last August.
22.10.2025, 12:35
SDA
Specifically, Article 7 of the law on the Catholic Church is to be amended. The newly proposed article of the law stipulates that any criminal offense or suspicion of a criminal offense involving a clergyman must be reported to the civil judicial authority within 30 days.
The "Movimento per il socialismo" - "Movement for Socialism" - (MPS) party proposed the amendment to the law over a year ago. The parliamentary "Constitution and Laws" committee has now approved the report, which is in favor of introducing the obligation to register. This paves the way for a debate and the corresponding vote in the Ticino Grand Council.
The reporting obligation is to be discussed in the parliamentary session after next. The responsible member of parliament, Lara Filippini (SVP), confirmed corresponding media reports at the request of the Keystone-SDA news agency.
Ruling met with incomprehension
The debate about mandatory reporting in Ticino gained momentum last August. Following a sensational trial in Lugano, a clergyman was sentenced to a conditional 18-month prison sentence. The man was immediately released due to early release, which caused great incomprehension among the Ticino public. There were calls for better protection for potential victims. Following the trial, the public prosecutor responsible announced that she would appeal against the verdict.
According to reports, at least one case of sexual assault by the priest in question had already been reported to those responsible within the diocese of Lugano many years ago. Within the church, the story was said to have been "allowed to fizzle out". It was only after several years that those responsible in the diocese of Lugano passed the information on to the Ticino judicial authorities.
