Pope Francis made it clear: He expects more than talk from the historic summit he’s called to deal with the Catholic Church’s clergy sex abuse crisis. He wants “concrete and effective” results.
Francis started things off by floating some proposals, including creating a kind of handbook church leaders could use when abuse accusations are made. The Pope also proposed dioceses and Catholic groups not publish lists of clergy accused of abuse before a preliminary investigation and “definitive” condemnation have occurred.
That’s controversial with abuse survivors, who say the public deserves to know when an accusation is made. After Francis spoke, he and church leaders watched emotional video from clergy abuse victims.