Pope Francis kisses a boy as he leaves after a Jubilee Audience in St
Peter's Square at the Vatican on May 14, 2016. In 2014, he established a
tribunal to probe cases of sex abuse against children and susceptible
adults. PHOTO | AFP
Pope Francis has consented
to disciplinary steps that could have a bishop sacked for mismanaging
child abuse cases, adding that laws will be stricter.
Through
a papal edict on Saturday, he said bishops should deal with wayward
priests accordingly by reporting them to the police, and not conceal
their crimes by transferring them from one parish to another.
Child abuse is chided by Canon law and a bishop could be dismissed based on what is described as 'grave reasons'.
"I
intend to specify that among these so-called 'serious reasons' is the
negligence of bishops in the exercise of their functions, especially in
cases of sexual abuse of minors or vulnerable adults," Pope Francis
said.
This comes amid cases of paedophilia, sexual attraction towards children, directed at Catholic priests in the world over.
The
Pope, in 2014, established a tribunal to probe cases of sex abuse
against children and susceptible adults -- a move that was viewed as
spot on in addressing the blight that has tainted the church's for
years.
Numerous allegations have been
hurled at the Catholic church for covering up sex abuse by clergy. Child
abuse is chided by Canon law, however, there has never been clear
measures to ward off such accusations.
In
2015, Australian cardinal George Pell, the third-highest ranking
official in the Vatican, was confronted by accusations including one
that he sought to bribe an abuse victim in return for his silence,
during sex abuse investigations in Australia by a royal commission.
When
he appeared before the Commission on February, Cardinal Pell
emphatically denied claims that he sexually abused minors while a priest
in Ballarat and as bishop of Melbourne.
The team has about two months to make a determination on the fate of the cardinal.
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