ROME
Irish Central
By
PATRICK COUNIHAN,
IrishCentral Staff Writer
Published Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Archbishop of Boston Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley has said the next pope must deal with Bishops who allowed abusive priests to remain in ministry.
The Boston Globe reports that the Cardinal claimed in Rome that the next Catholic Church leader must adopt measures to deal with bishops whose ‘malfeasanc’ permitted child sex abusers to stay on as priests.
He said in a Rome interview that the successor to Pope Benedict XVI will need to continue Benedict’s campaign to get bishops across the world to adopt policies for dealing with accused abusers.
As dozens of cardinals gathered at the Vatican, Cardinal O’Malley said that should include procedures for disciplining bishops who protect abusive priests.
The report says that US bishops adopted a zero-tolerance policy on clergy sexual abuse a decade ago, requiring removal from ministry of any priest credibly accused of abusing a minor.
The paper claims that some church leaders have not followed it, with the bishop of Kansas City convicted last fall of failing to report child abuse by a priest. The church has yet to sanction him.
Cardinal O’Malley said: “There needs to be a path for disciplining bishops. Right now, it’s not terribly clear, but it’s something the next pope will have to deal with.
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