The Record: Bishop accountability

NEW JERSEY
The Record

Editorial

POPE FRANCIS took another important step toward making the Catholic Church fully accountable for its role in allowing priests to sexually abuse children for decades. The pontiff approved a plan to create a Vatican tribunal that would hold bishops accountable for how they dealt with sexual abuse cases in their respective dioceses.

The priest sexual abuse scandals that have rocked the foundation of the church revealed an institution more obsessed with self-preservation than with child protection. U.S. bishops, for example, have endorsed their own national charter that created a protocol for responding to sexual abuse allegations, but bishops are held accountable by the Vatican, not by other bishops. While it is unclear how much teeth this tribunal will have, it is a very promising development.

But it does not take the place of civil law enforcement’s ability to fully investigate any allegations of sexual abuse by priests. For the church to fully address this widespread problem it has to ensure that every bishop, every pastor, every priest knows that his first priority is to protect children from predators. Police must be contacted immediately, and dioceses must fully cooperate with them.

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