10 May 2019

Pope issues new law forcing sexual abuse to be reported

From Morning Report, 7:35 am on 10 May 2019

Pope Francis has announced new rules for reporting and investigating sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic Church. It's the latest attempt by the Pope to respond to the global sexual abuse and and cover-up scandal that has tarnished the credibility of the Catholic heirarchy, and it comes after a major summit held on the subject in February. The new rules require Catholic priests and nuns around the world to report sexual abuse and cover-ups by their superiors to church authorities. They also provide whistleblower protection to anyone reporting an abuse case, and require all dioceses to have a system in place to receive abuse claims confidentially. Our correspondent in Rome is Melissa Butz.