Pope Francis ends ‘secrecy’ rule on child sexual abuse in Catholic church
Pontifical secrecy ‘no more an excuse’ for church officials to refuse to share information
Pope Francis has announced sweeping changes to the way the Roman Catholic church deals with cases of sexual abuse of children, abolishing the rule of pontifical secrecy that previously covered them.
Two documents issued by the pope back practices that have been in place in some countries, particularly the US, such as reporting suspicion of sexual abuse to civil authorities where required by law.