Pope welcomes child abuse measures

(ANSA) - Vatican City, June 10 - The pope welcomed proposals from the Commission for the Protection of Children on bishops' accountability in pedophile priest cases, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said Wednesday.
    Francis authorized the provision of "adequate resources" so bishops can report priests who abuse children and the disabled for abuse of office, Lombardi said after a meeting between the pope and the so-called C-9 group of nine cardinals advising him on key reforms.
    Three different bodies of the Roman Curia would be authorized to make such reports - the Congregation for Bishops, the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, and the Congregation for the Oriental Churches.
    Francis also welcomed a proposal to create a judicial body within the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), which is the oldest of the nine congregations of the Roman Curia and oversees Catholic doctrine. The CDF is the modern name for what used to be the Holy Office of the Inquisition. The Roman Curia is the central body though which the pontiff runs the Catholic Church.
    The reform of the Curia is part of Francis's drive to overhaul the Vatican after the Church's image was tarnished by scandals regarding child-sex abuse and financial and media leaks during the papacy of his predecessor, Benedict XVI.