Pope Francis will dismiss bishops if negligent in protecting people from abuse in church

The Roman Catholic Church had long been embroiled in complaints of molestation by priests, and bishops have been accused of covering them up. Pope Francis finally established new procedures that aims to address this longstanding issue.

According to Radio Vaticana, in an Apostolic Letter titled "Come una madre amorevole" (As a Loving Mother), the pope issued new norms, which establish that bishops can be removed from their offices when they, "through negligance, committed or omitted acts that have caused grave harm to others, either with regard to physical persons, or with regard to the community itself."

The pontiff, reports The Irish News, acknowledged that the the church's canonical code already says that bishops can be removed for "grave reasons." In this new guidelines, however, he emphasized that negligence can be deemed as a cause for a bishop to be dismissed, saying that they "must undertake a particular diligence in protecting those who are the weakest among their flock."

"To abuse of minors or vulnerable adults, it is sufficient that the lack of diligence be grave," quotes Radio Vaticana.

This means that a bishop can be ousted from office for not being diligent enough in protecting the members of the church, even though the bishop is "without grave moral fault." When "serious evidence" is presented, the Vatican will commence investigation and, if found to have not been dutiful, the bishop can either be asked to resign or a decree for his removal will be prepared. The pope is the one to approve a bishop's dismissal.

However, there are those who are not convinced that this would make much change since popes have not really used their power to dismiss bishops.

"A 'process' is helpful only if it's used often enough to deter wrongdoing," said SNAP, a group of victims in the U.S. "We doubt this one will be."

With this new measures, the proposal approved by the pope last year -- one that would establish an accountability tribunal to hear cases of negligence -- has been scrapped. This new norms would reportedly streamline the process since the issues will be handled by the Vatican offices that are already handling bishops.

While disappointed that the tribunal proposal did not push through, Marie Collins, an abuse survivor who is a member of the pope's abuse advisory board, said that, at least, bishop accountability "has not been allowed to disappear into the sand."

"As a survivor, I am hoping the congregations involved will implement these new procedures as speedily as possible, as the success or failure of any initiative can only be judged on visible results," Collins said.

The new norms will take effect on Sept. 5.