Action Alert!
Catholic World News

Watchdog group cites Pope’s failures on abuse

March 16, 2023

» Continue to this story on Washington Post

CWN Editor's Note: A sex-abuse watchdog group has issued a public call for Pope Francis to release the names of bishops who have been investigated under the terms of Vos Estis.

In an open letter to the Pontiff, BishopAccountability.org said that he should be “honoring your repeated pledges of transparency on abuse.” The group’s leader, Ann Barrett Doyle, told reporters: “The Pope has repeatedly said he wants transparency, yet he is leaving the faithful in the dark.”

Barret Doyle said that Vos Estis, the 2019 document that promised to hold bishops accountable for their failure to address abuse, had failed to provide any assurances to the faithful. “It’s self-policing packaged as accountability,” she said. “It is bishops watching bishops.”

The group also said that bishops found guilty of negligence had not been adequately punished. Their statement criticized Pope Francis on that score, noting: “In the past four years, you have not deprived one complicit or abusive church leader of his title, let alone his priesthood.”

The above note supplements, highlights, or corrects details in the original source (link above). About CWN news coverage.

 


For all current news, visit our News home page.


Sound Off! CatholicCulture.org supporters weigh in.

All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a current donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!

There are no comments yet for this item.