Headlines
Pope Francis backs new Vatican sex abuse court
Vatican City, June 11
Pope Francis on
Wednesday approved a proposal to create a tribunal within the Vatican
for bishops who cover up alleged paedophile priests, as part of his
reform of the city-state's Curia or governing body.
The new
tribunal will be part of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith,
the Vatican’s doctrinal watchdog, which already has the power to judge
priests accused of abusing minors.
The remit of the newly-formed
body will cover bishops, judging them "with regard to crimes of the
abuse of office when connected to the abuse of minors,†the Vatican
said.
The tribunal was recommended by a 17-member commission set
up by Francis to crack down on sexually abusive clergy, more than a
decade after the scandal first emerged in the US, sullying the image of
the Catholic Church.
Francis also approved "adequate resources"
so bishops can report priests who abuse children and the disabled for
abuse of office, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said.
Three
different bodies would be authorised to make such reports, the
Congregation of bishops, the Congregation for the Evangelisation of
Peoples and the Congregation for the Oriental Churches.
Sex abuse
victims said they feared the move was just the latest in a series of
administrative reforms undertaken by the Vatican to stonewall secular
authorities, leading to very few prosecutions.
Despite his
virtually unlimited power, Francis has yet to sack any bishops for
complicity in child sex abuse, nor has he demoted, disciplined or
denounced any complicit church official, according to victims.