SCOTLAND
Scottish Catholic Observer
Tina Campbell, head of safeguarding, reacts to Pope Francis’ latest Apostolic letter, issued motu proprio, and speaks of Scottish progress
POPE Francis has established new legal procedures to remove bishops who mishandle sex abuse cases, saying they can be removed from office if the Vatican finds they were negligent in doing their jobs.
In an Apostolic letter published last Saturday, the Holy Father answered a long-running demand by victims of abuse and their advocates to hold bishops accountable for failing to prevent clerical sex abuse. Victims have long accused bishops of covering up for abuse, moving rapists from parish to parish rather than reporting them to police.
In Scotland, the Church’s national safeguarding co-ordinator, Tina Campbell (above) said the motu proprio letter was another sign of ‘serious and ongoing commitment’ to tackling the scourge of clerical child abuse.
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