The Catholic head, Pope Francis, has unveiled a new church law to deal with paedophile priests. According to the Pontiff, Catholic bishops who fail to sack paedophile priests can be removed from office under new church laws.
This answers one of the demands of victims of abuse that Catholic Bishops should be responsible if they fail to punish clergy sexually abusing parishioners. The victims had complained that Bishops simply moved priests accused of abuse to another parish, rather than report them to police or church authorities.
The church laws currently allows for a Bishop to be removed for negligence, however this now includes the particular negligence.
During his visit to the US last September, the pontiff met victims of Catholic church sex abuse and vowed that those responsible would face justice. It was the first time Francis had met abuse victims outside of Rome, where he had done so once before. The pope had already apologised for the church’s inadequate response to the US abuse crisis.
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