It's a mixture of superficial reading and outrage that drives a headline about the Vatican through the news streams on social media.
It's about a headline from the WELT newspaper . This states that the Vatican allows sex with children aged 12 and over. In the article you read in the introduction:
The Vatican City has the lowest age of consent for children in Europe. It is 12 years, in Germany it is 14 and in Switzerland it is 16. The age of consent determines how old a child must be at least before adults and young people are allowed to have sexual relationships with them.
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The article and the information contained in it are not fake. However, there is something important to know about this article: it is a piece of content published in 2010!
More precisely, this article about the Vatican was published on the WELT website on April 24, 2010, basically exactly 10 years ago. In this fact check, we will clarify whether the content still applies to 2020.
Is that still the case in the Vatican?
No, things are different now. As early as 2013, Pope Francis initiated the revision of the Vatican criminal law. Until then, this criminal law in the Vatican actually stipulated a low age of consent of 12 years.
The reason: This regulation was a remnant of an old Italian law from the 19th century, in which the age of consent was still 12 years.
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Since 2013, the age of consent for children has been 18 years and the maximum penalty for sexual intercourse with people under 18, as well as for child prostitution and the creation and possession of child pornography has been increased to 12 years in prison.
Is the world now selling fake news?
Anyone who claims that the WELT is now spreading fake news is seriously mistaken! As a general rule, the historical context of a topic must always be considered and the date of publication plays an important role.
Since the publication date of the article is dated 2010 and the legal situation in the Vatican was corresponding at that time, the article is of course completely correct and should be seen in this historical context.
See also our older article .
Notes:
1) This content reflects the current state of affairs at the time of publication. The reproduction of individual images, screenshots, embeds or video sequences serves to discuss the topic. 2) Individual contributions were created through the use of machine assistance and were carefully checked by the Mimikama editorial team before publication. ( Reason )