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Pope sets guidelines for removing bishops who mishandle sex abuse cases

 
Pope Francis  meets with cardinals at the end of a Jubilee Mass for priests in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on Friday. [Associated Press]
Pope Francis meets with cardinals at the end of a Jubilee Mass for priests in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on Friday. [Associated Press]
Published June 5, 2016

VATICAN CITY — Roman Catholic bishops found to be "negligent" when dealing with cases of sexual abuse will be investigated and could be removed from office, a papal decree said Saturday.

Pope Francis has pledged zero tolerance for anyone in the church who abuses children, and has likened such abuse to a "satanic Mass." In 2014, he established a Vatican commission intended to set best practices to root out abuse in parishes.

With the decree, the pope is putting into action what he promised last year when he approved a Vatican tribunal to judge bishops accused of covering up or failing to prevent abuse of minors.

Victims' groups have repeatedly demanded that the Roman Catholic Church do more to make bishops accountable for abuse in their dioceses, even if they were not directly responsible for it.

David Clohessy, the director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, remained skeptical about the church's response.

"Instead of just sacking bad bishops, or turning over abuse records to law enforcement, the Vatican is setting up yet another untested, internal church 'process' to purportedly deal with bishops who ignore or conceal child sex crimes," Clohessy said in a statement.

While a bishop can already lose his job for "grave reasons" under the existing canonical code, the pope said he wanted to specify with the decree that such reasons included instances where bishops failed to adequately tackle abuse cases.

Bishops "must be particularly diligent in protecting those who are the weakest among the people entrusted to them," the pope said in the decree. He said a bishop could be removed from office if he had "through negligence, executed or omitted acts that caused serious harm to others," whether physical, moral, spiritual or financial.

The decree requires the Vatican to investigate if "serious evidence" of negligence is found, and bishops will be given an opportunity to defend themselves. Any removal must approved by the pope, who will be assisted by a group of legal advisers.