ShepherdsDog ShepherdsDog:
I hope this means that the Catholic Church will let the police investigate any and all allegations of sexual abuse. The police and courts will hopefully deal with the 'justice' aspect while the victims and Church can discuss the 'forgiveness' aspect.
The police can, the problem is victims need to report it to the police and not the church. The church itself cannot do much, it cannot launch an investigation, lest not to the same extent the police can due to privacy laws, and it cannot lay charges either. The Catholic Church needs to be reporting it to the local police, the problem is the Catholic Church is more a government than a church so they do what any government does, they try to cover it up and hope it goes away.