ROME
National Catholic Reporter
Joshua J. McElwee | Jun. 6, 2016
ROME
Pope Francis’ move to grant several Vatican offices authority to initiate removal of Catholic bishops negligent in their response to clergy sexual abuse has drawn mixed reviews from canon lawyers and survivors’ advocates, who say the pontiff’s action may not go far enough in stemming the abuse crisis.
The experts are expressing confusion over why the pontiff chose not to go forward with a proposal from his Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors for a new tribunal tasked specifically with judging bishops in their handling of sexual abuse and instead directed four existing Vatican congregations to take on the work.
In one example, a canon lawyer at the Catholic University of America tweeted that the pope had promised the creation of that new tribunal more than a year ago.
With Saturday’s publication of the motu proprio Come una madre amorevole (“Like a loving mother”), that tribunal “seems to get [a] first class funeral,” Kurt Martens continued.
“Everyone seems to be excited about the new [motu proprio], but there is really no change,” he said in a later conversation with NCR. “That which was already done is now put in a text format.”
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