Will Roman Catholic priests be obliged to report suspected pedophile crimes in Hungary?

The opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) will submit again a bill to lawmakers that would legally obligate people to report suspected pedophile crimes, the party’s deputy leader, Ágnes Vadai, said at a press conference on Sunday.

The bill would compel the Hungarian Catholic Church to report such crimes, too, Vadai said. She added that currently the Catholic Church could order an internal probe if there was suspicion of pedophile crimes, but then take a decision “on a subjective basis” on whether or not to file a report with the police.

She noted that a bill on the matter DK submitted to lawmakers in 2021 had been rejected by the governing party majority in parliament’s justice commiteee.

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