Catholic Church's Handling of Abuse Cases Continues to Fail Victims

Despite reforms and summits, survivors face retraumatization and systemic obstacles to justice.

Despite reforms, victims of clergy sexual abuse continue to face retraumatization and lack of justice within the Catholic Church's in-house legal system.
Pope Francis' efforts, including a summit and new laws to hold bishops accountable, have not sufficiently addressed the systemic issues plaguing the church's response to abuse.
Victims and advocates criticize the church's handling of abuse cases, highlighting structural conflicts of interest, lack of victims' rights, and absence of transparency in case law.
The church's legal system is deemed institution-centric, focusing on restoring justice and reforming offenders, but failing to adequately support or heal survivors.
Investigations and reports from around the world consistently identify the church's in-house legal system as a significant part of the problem in addressing clergy sexual abuse.