VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter
Joshua J. McElwee | Feb. 7, 2015
VATICAN CITY The Vatican commission advising Pope Francis on clergy sexual abuse will be making recommendations to the pontiff regarding consequences for Catholic bishops who do not follow church guidelines on preventing and reporting abuse, Boston’s Cardinal Sean O’Malley has said.
While the cardinal said the commission has yet to recommend specifically what those repercussions might be, he added: “Obviously, there has to be consequences.”
“There needs to be procedures that will allow these cases to be dealt with in an expeditious way, rather than just having things open-ended,” O’Malley continued, responding to a question at a Vatican press conference Saturday from NCR about prelates like U.S. Bishop Robert Finn who remain in place despite mishandling sexual abuse cases.
The Vatican commission on clergy sexual abuse, which the pope created to advise him on the protection of minors in all circumstances, is meeting at the Vatican for the first time this weekend with all 17 of its members.
O’Malley, who leads the group, was speaking at a conference Saturday alongside two of its other members. The issue of accountability for bishops who do not appropriately respond to reports of clergy sexual abuse came up several times at the event.
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