Pope Francis has announced that the next international synod of bishops in Rome will discuss the reform of church structures to give a greater voice to the laity and clergy.

Pope Francis has announced that the next international synod of bishops in Rome will discuss the reform of church structures to give a greater voice to the laity and clergy. This is not mere navel- gazing. One result of the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church – still not fully recognised – has been the devastating collapse of trust between bishops on the one hand and clergy and laity on the other. The problems lie deeper but are partly structural. Aside from the negligence or incompetence of some individuals, the collapse of trust has been reinforced by the almost complete absence of transparency and accountability.

The current system of church governance seems to presuppose that either diocesan bishops never make mistakes or misjudgements, or, when they do, the Holy See will somehow know about it and step in to take appropriate action. In the real world, the sexual abuse of young people by priests has often been compounded by an inadequate response from the diocesan bishop. Over and over again, the Vatican, one of whose duties is the oversight of bishops, failed to bring the bishop to account. In this respect the work of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) has been a salutary eye-opener. The shame lies in the fact that it was necessary.

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