Pope Summons Bishops For Sexual Abuse Summit

USA Today reports:

Pope Francis has summoned the presidents of Catholic bishops conferences worldwide to the Vatican in February to discuss how to stop clergy from sexually abusing children. The meeting, on February 21-24, is believed to be the first of its kind. Some clergy from the Catholic Church have been carrying out abuse for decades.

An investigation in the United States earlier this year found rampant sexual abuse of more than 1,000 children in Pennsylvania. In July, Washington Cardinal Theodore McCarrick resigned amid claims of abuse. Other clergy sex abuse scandals have occurred in countries including Germany, Argentina, Australia, Ireland and Chile.

ABC News reports:

The archbishop of Washington plans to meet with the pope in Rome to discuss the possibility of resigning as he confronts accusations that he mismanaged and concealed alleged sex abuse within the church, he wrote to local priests.

Cardinal Donald Wuerl said in a letter Tuesday that Pope Francis has asked him too “discern the best course of action” toward helping the church move forward in the wake of the allegations against him, which surfaced last month after a Pennsylvania grand jury accused more than 300 priests of child sex abuse.