The College of Cardinals now has two members who have received court convictions related to clerical sexual abuse: Australian Cardinal George Pell, for committing offences; and French Cardinal Philippe Barbarin, for failing to report a known offender.

There are other cardinals also facing questions about mishandling abuse and cover-up. In Chile, Cardinal Ricardo Ezzati is facing a lawsuit and calls to resign for his handling of abuse, while Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, president of the US Bishops’ Conference, is grappling with a District Attorney investigation into the management of abuse cases in his Galveston-Houston archdiocese.

All this has the potential to seriously damage a future conclave, not to mention the untold damage it is doing to the Church’s credibility. Any cardinal who fails to deal adequately with the sexual abuse of children surely must lose his right to vote for the Successor of St Peter.

Francis now has some tough choices. Cardinal Barbarin will offer the Pope his resignation as Archbishop of Lyon and Primate of the Gauls on Monday, but it is unclear whether he will retain his red hat. Meanwhile, though Cardinal Pell is serving time in prison for the sexual abuse of two choirboys, he retains all his rights as a cardinal – including the right to participate in a conclave – pending the result of his appeal. Even if this is successful, Pell’s handling of abuse in Australia will soon be laid bare by the Royal Commission: sections on Pell in its final report were redacted while his trial was ongoing.