Vatican Publishes Manual for Bishops on Handling Sex-abuse Reports

By Francis X. Rocca
Wall Street Journal
July 16, 2020

https://www.wsj.com/articles/vatican-publishes-manual-for-bishops-on-handling-sex-abuse-reports-11594910877

ROME—The Vatican Thursday released an instruction manual for bishops on dealing with reports of clerical sex abuse, in a step toward a more unified response to a long-running scandal for the Catholic Church and the reign of Pope Francis.

The document’s contents break no new ground but summarize existing Vatican recommendations. Putting the guidance into a single manual was a promise made by Pope Francis in February 2019, at the conclusion of a Vatican summit on sex abuse attended by bishops around the world. Discussions at...