Is the Vatican’s justice system dysfunctional by design?

Despite years of legal reforms, a climate of dysfunction and special treatment surrounds cases of senior churchmen

Despite initially giving a different account, Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani Thorne’s clarified this week that he did sign a written set of restrictions on his ministry over allegations of sexual abuse, after all.

While that concession is interesting, it doesn’t bring any real clarity to a complex case unfolding in the news this week, or explain why and how…