Following sexual allegations charged up against the clergy men, entailing priests and bishops, who are said to have been in the habit of sexually abusing not only nuns but children as well, Catholic overall authority, Pope Francis has pened a summit.
The summit, set to address the accusations will see a number of 114 Catholic church heads from around the world. They are set up return home with clear ideas on how to spot and deal with abuse and paedophilia.
Responsibility, accountability and transparency will form the three key themes of the summit.
Among the suggestions involved for the summit include reforms, such as the “tweaking” of certain canon laws, according to organizer Charles Scicluna, a Maltese Archbishop.
The suggestion has angered many, including Anne Barrett Doyle, the co-director of BishopAccountability.org, a public database that documents cases of proven or suspected cleric sex crimes.
“Canon law has to be changed: not tweaked, not modified, but fundamentally changed, so that it stops prioritising the priesthood… over the lives of children, and vulnerable adults who are sexually assaulted by them,” she said.
Scicluna insists that summoning Church leaders from all continents to Rome “is in itself a very important message”. He further called for an end to the code of silence and culture of denial within the beleaguered centuries-old institution.