The Catholic Church have revealed it has secret guidelines for priests who have fathered children, despite their vows of celibacy, a report from the New York Times reveals.
According to the report, Vincent Doyle, whose father was a Catholic priest, explained that he saw the document when he travelled to Rome in search for justice for kids of ministers.
"I can confirm that these guidelines exist. It is an internal document," Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti told the New York Times.
It can be recalled that Catholic priests are required, officially, to maintain a life of celibacy, which means refraining from any form of sexual activity.
A growing tide of sexual abuse scandals involving priests around the world has shown these vows are often broken, although there are many examples of consensual sex by ministers.
Nevertheless the Catholic Church has refused to budge from its longstanding tradition.
Vatican spokesman Gisotti said the fundamental principle of the internal guidelines were the "protection of the child."
He added that, under the secret rules, a priest who fathered children was requested to leave the priesthood and "assume his responsibilities as a parent by devoting himself exclusively to the child."
But Monsignor Andrea Ripa, under-secretary in the Congregation for the Clergy at the Vatican, told the paper the guidelines were more of a formality than an order.
This report comes weeks after the Catholic Church's leader, Pope Francis acknowledged for the first time the rape and sexual abuse of nuns by priests and bishops inside the Catholic Church.
"I believe that it may still be being done. It's not a thing that from the moment in which you realize it, it's over. The thing goes forward like this. We've been working on this for a long time," he said during a press conference on a flight back from the United Arab Emirates.
The Pope added that more should be done. "Do we have the will? Yes," he said.
On Thursday, senior Catholic bishops from around the world will meet in Rome for a four-day summit on the issue of clerical sexual abuse.