Pope Francis on Tuesday (Nov. 11) created a new Vatican body to deal with the most serious cases of child sexual abuse and to streamline complaints against the clergy.
The Vatican said the pope would nominate seven cardinals or bishops to consider appeals from clergy accused of abusing minors in a bid to speed up the judicial process of clergy who have received an initial assessment by local bishops.
The members of the panel, or “college,” may come from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which currently handles cases, or elsewhere in the church. Members will also be asked to deal with serious abuses of penance in the confessional.
The Vatican’s chief spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, called the pope’s proposal a “good solution” to help alleviate a backlog of cases.
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But the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, which has more than 18,000 members around the world, said Tuesday the Vatican was not doing enough to ensure that those accused of sex crimes faced justice.
Archbishop Tomasi
“New procedures aren’t needed,” said Mary Caplan from SNAP, in a statement. “Decisive action is needed. And historically, only bishops who commit child sex crimes face even the slightest discipline while the hundreds more who conceal the crimes are ignored or promoted.”
Pope Francis launches new panel to speed up abuse cases - Religion News Service
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