Pope Calls World’s Bishops to Meeting on Sexual Abuse of Children

By Jason Horowitz
New York Times
September 12, 2018

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/12/world/europe/pope-bishops-conference.html

Pope Francis has summoned to Rome bishops from around the world for an unprecedented meeting focused on protecting minors, the Vatican announced on Wednesday, as the pontiff wrestles with a global clerical sexual abuse crisis and explosive accusations of a cover-up that have shaken his papacy and the entire Roman Catholic Church.

The pope called the presidents of the world’s bishops’ conferences to gather from Feb. 21 to 24, according to the Vatican, which added that he had “amply reflected” on the issue with his top council of cardinal advisers during three days of meetings that ended on Wednesday. It would be the first global gathering of church leaders to discuss the crisis.

The announcement came on the eve of a meeting in the Vatican on Thursday between the pope and a group of American bishops, including Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo, the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, and Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, Francis’ leading adviser on the issue of sexual abuse. The Americans are coming in search of answers from the pope and a full investigation into why one of their most prominent colleagues was allowed to ascend to a top position in the American church, despite allegations that he had sexually abused seminarians.