Priests, nuns and canon lawyers who advocate for molestation victims
urged Pope Francis on Wednesday to use the new Vatican tribunal he
formed on negligent bishops to investigate the archbishop of Newark, New Jersey, who has long been accused of sheltering abusive priests.
The plea comes as Francis prepares for his first visit to the U.S. in
September, a trip which will take place against the backdrop of the
broad unfinished business of the molestation scandal. The crisis erupted
in 2002 with the case of one pedophile priest in the Archdiocese of
Boston before spreading nationwide, then engulfing the Roman Catholic
Church.
