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Pope Francis has approved a new system of accountability for bishops who don’t appropriately handle accusations of clergy sex abuse.
Power will be given to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to judge bishops “with regard to crimes of the abuse of office when connected to the abuse of minors”.
A new office will be established within the CDF to work as a tribunal to judge bishops in this regard.
And the Pope will appoint a second-in-command at the CDF to head the tribunal and to work with the congregation’s prefect.
The new accountability system includes five points agreed to by the Pope, which cover the above moves.
They are mandated for a five year period.
The system was developed by the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors and was backed by the Pope’s C9 Council of Cardinals.
Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi said the power to fire prelates still remains with the Pope.
But the Pope accepts the decisions of those he puts in such tribunal offices, Fr Lombardi said.
The CDF is already tasked with investigating cases of priests accused of sexual abuse.
The first of the five points states that there is a “duty” to report “allegations of the abuse of office by a bishop connected to the abuse of minors” to the Vatican offices which oversee bishops.
The points do not specifically state who has the duty to report abuses of office by bishops.
They also don’t spell out how those reports might be transferred by the Vatican congregations that oversee bishops to the doctrinal congregation for judgment.
The points also do not indicate how a bishop who comes under judgment will be able to defend himself.
Earlier this month, the head of the Centre for Child Protection based at the Pontifical Gregorian University complained there are no legal procedures or list of sanctions in canon law for bishops who violate canonical norms on sexual abuse.
The new system of accountability is seen as a response to such complaints.
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