Prevenire, punire, riparare: la responsabilità personale tra diritto dello Stato e diritto della Chiesa

The scandal of sexual abuse of children by the Catholic clergy has focused attention on the theme of responsibility and its functions in our society. This paper explores two concepts of responsibility, distinguishing between a retrospective responsibility and a prospective responsibility. The first one corresponds to a punitive legal model adopted in our legal system. The second one is congruent to a restorative model of justice, which is emerging as a new paradigm within criminal law. This paper considers the particular conditions and forms of responsibility in canon law, in comparison with the secular legal model. The conclusion is that the responsibility in Church law is a retrospective one, focused on punishment of the offender rather than the needs of the victim.