US bishops approve changes to Church law on sex abuse reporting

The Catholic Church in the United States, which has been rocked in recent years by child sex abuse scandals and investigations, on Thursday approved a papal document that requires clergy to report suspicions of sexual assault.

At a meeting of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops in Baltimore, participants approved by a large majority the changes to the US catechism, which also reinforces systems in place for victims to signal alleged abuse.

The "motu proprio" -- a legal document issued under Pope Francis's personal authority -- declares that anyone who has knowledge of abuse, or suspects it, is "obliged to report (it) promptly" to the Church, using "easily accessible systems."

The law only applies within the Church and has no force to oblige individuals to report abuse to civil authorities.

Under the new measure, every diocese around the world is obliged by June 2020 to create a system for the reporting of sexual abuse by clerics, the use of child pornography and cover-ups of ...