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In the face of abuses against minors committed by clerics, the Church cannot hide the fact that its procedures and its law have not been effective. The Church must think in a new way. To punish these acts, canonical penal law alone is totally inadequate in the face of the scandal of clerical paedophilia: recourse to national courts can no longer be called into question. Nevertheless, the penal law of the Church must not be abandoned when it comes to removing from the clerical state those who have committed acts that are completely incompatible with the exercise of ministry, especially acts of paedophilia. Alongside the ministry of mercy, the necessity for a penal canonical response persists in order to emphasise what is right and to defend victims in a public way.