Pope Francis last week passed a landmark new measure to oblige those who know about sex abuse in the Catholic Church to report it to their superiorsSAO PAULO - Pope Francis on Friday accepted the resignation of a Brazilian bishop reportedly suspected of extorting priests and covering up sexual abuse, the Vatican said in a statement. The Vatican always announces when Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of a bishop, but never explains why. It was a "sanitary measure taken urgently by the Pope," said Fernando Altemeyer Junior, a professor of theology at the Catholic university PUC Sao Paulo. The Catholic Church has been rocked by a global pedophilia scandal, with victims coming forward in countries ranging from Australia to Chile, Germany and the United States. "There have been no government or prosecutorial inquiries into the Catholic church or litigation (in Brazil)."

Source: Bangkok Post May 17, 2019 22:18 UTC