Pope expands sex abuse law, reaffirms adults can be victims

TL;DR

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis on Saturday updated a 2019 church law aimed at holding senior churchmen accountable for covering up sexual abuse cases, expanding it to cover lay Catholic leaders and reaffirming that vulnerable adults and not just children can be victims of abuse when they are unable to freely consent. After realizing he had erred, Francis ordered up a full review of the Chilean abuse dossier, summoned the presidents of bishops’ conferences to Rome for a four-day summit on safeguarding and set in motion plans for a new law to hold senior churchmen to account for abuse and cover-ups. Small agreed that abuse survivors, as well as the broader Catholic flock, must at the very least be informed of case outcomes

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