I wholeheartedly agree with Danno. You make a difference, Kieran Tapsell. I know very little of canon law (more of civil law, owing to my family). But I'm pleased you remind us again that at least the Catholic Bishops Conferences of US, England and Wales, Australia and Ireland wish "to impose mandatory reporting under canon law irrespective of whether there are civil reporting laws." Why the episcopacies of non-English speaking European countries (and Vatican) don't want the same thing puzzles me. Though there are a lot of differences between European Civil Law and US/English Common Law (owing to differences in legal practices, values, institutions), I always thought the Church had one homogeneous legal tradition of canon law acceptable to all.  It appears non-English speaking European Catholic churches (as well as African, Asian, Latin American) give Canon Law a Civil Law twist (i.e., caution), whereas English speaking churches give Canon Law a Common Law, more literal rendering?