Pope Francis

The Vatican unveiled major initiatives to clean up the image of Catholic church tarnished by years of scandals on Saturday with announcement that bishops guilty of covering up cases of child sex abuse should be subject to removal.

The Vatican said the new rule is part of the new legal guidelines by Pope Francis aimed at cleaning up the image of the church.

“A bishop may legitimately be removed from office for acts committed or omitted by negligence, resulting in the provocation of grave damage to others.

“This damages could either be on physical persons or a community as a whole”, the pope said in the statement.

The letter, directly from the pope under his own initiative, stressed that bishops will now be sacked for negligence and for not actively pursuing paedophile priests in their dioceses.

The letter pointed out that the pope already has the power to remove bishops for “grave causes”, but it specified the pope would now act “in relation to cases of sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable adults.”

The pope would be assisted in disciplinary decisions by a new dedicated college of jurists, which would be made up of bishops and cardinals.

A motu proprio letter comes directly from the pope without consultation with cardinals, advisors or church bodies and usually relates to minor changes in church law. (dpa/NAN