Pope Francis lays down the law on child sex abuse on Vatican grounds July 11, 2013 -- Updated 1456 GMT (2256 HKT) Pope Francis on a recent trip to Lampedusa island in Italy on July 8, 2013. Any form of child pornography is also forbidden under pope's new initiative The new laws include other measures to ensure humane behavior by church officials They forbid humiliating treatment or punishment They are part of an update to the Vatican's legal system started by Pope Benedict Rome (CNN) -- Pope Francis has laid down a law making it a crime to abuse children sexually or physically on Vatican grounds, the Holy See announced Thursday. The acts were already crimes under church law, but are now specifically outlawed within the Vatican city-state, which is home to hundreds of people. The legislation also covers child prostitution and the creation or possession of child pornography. But it has a "broader scope," according to Radio Vatican. It adds provisions of international laws against war crimes, racial discrimination and humiliating treatment or punishment to the Vatican's legal system. It includes wording from the Geneva Conventions. Francis issued the new laws as a "moto proprio," meaning that the document was his own initiative, Vatican Radio said. The new criminal laws are part of an ongoing update of the Vatican's legal system, which began under Pope Benedict. In April: Pope tells Vatican to 'act decisively' sex abuse cases CNN's Hada Messia reported from Rome; Ben Brumfield wrote in Atlanta. July 8, 2013 -- Updated 1442 GMT (2242 HKT) On the first pastoral visit of his papacy, Pope Francis shunned protocol and politics on a visit to the tiny island of Lampedusa off the coast of Sicily.