Papal Immunity

As head of the Holy See and the worldwide Catholic Church, can the Roman Pontiff be held responsible for the crimes of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic
clergy and the negligence of Catholic institutions in addressing the matter? Any attempt to answer this question properly must be based on the two independent legal systems that address the juridical status of the pope: Canon Law and International Law. Unfortunately, they provide conflicting answers since Canon Law speaks of the absolute immunity of the Roman Pontiff by virtue of his Petrine office and International Law affords him a restrictive immunity shared by all heads of state. The specific purpose of this work, therefore, is to study the immunity that the Roman Pontiff enjoys under both systems in order to analyze the potential challenge that the restrictive doctrine of head of state immunity might present to Canon Law, particularly in light of the efforts on both the national and international levels to hold him responsible for the above-mentioned crimes.