The document, still in its early stages, would be the second official pronouncement by Pope Francis on the global sexual abuse crisis since he presided at a summit of senior bishops at the Vatican in February.
The first after the summit was last month when Francis made it compulsory in law to report the sexual abuse of children within the Vatican and in its diplomatic missions worldwide.
“MORAL RESPONSIBILITY”
Victims of sexual abuse and their advocates have long called for measures to make bishops more accountable and to make it easier to report the alleged role of some in cover-ups, negligence or mismanagement. In its current form, the document is a Motu Proprio or a personal papal edict. It’s working title is “Moral Responsibility”, one of the sources said.
The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the matter.
The Church’s credibility has been badly tarnished by abuse scandals in Ireland, Chile, Australia, France, the United States, Poland, Germany and elsewhere, in which it has paid billions of dollars in damages to victims and been forced to close parishes.
In 2016, Francis issued an edict establishing that bishops could be removed from office for negligence or omission that led even indirectly to sexual abuse of minors by clergy.