IRELAND
RTE News
The leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland has said Pope Francis’ new tribunal to judge bishops accused of covering up child sexual abuse should investigate allegations relating to events a long time ago.
Archbishop Eamon Martin was speaking following the Vatican announcement that it had accepted proposals for such a body made by a Papal commission on child protection.
The Pope approved an unprecedented Vatican department to judge bishops accused of covering up or not preventing sexual abuse of minors, meeting a key demand by victims’ groups.
A statement said the department would come under the auspices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican’s doctrinal arm, “to judge bishops with regard to crimes of the abuse of office when connected to the abuse of minors”.
Victims groups have for years been urging the Vatican to establish clear procedures to make bishops more accountable for abuse in their dioceses, even if they were not directly responsible for it.
Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi told reporters that the bishops could also be judged if they had failed to take measures to prevent sexual abuse of minors.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.