Pope issues new rules to address sex abuse

BERLIN (AA) - Pope Francis introduced new rules Thursday to investigate and prevent sex abuse in the Catholic Church.

The new rules, which would apply to all Catholic clergy around the world, makes it obligatory for the clergy to promptly report sexual abuse claims to church authorities.

The move came after growing criticism from the victims' associations which accused the Vatican for ignoring their suffering, covering up most of the cases and failing to take concrete action to end sexual abuse in the Church.

Since 1950, as many as 100,000 children became victims of clerical sexual abuse in the U.S., according to the estimates of the advocacy groups.

Germany’s Catholic Church apologized last year to the victims and admitted its investigation revealed at least 3,677 children were subjected to sexual exploitation between 1946 and 2014.

In France, the Catholic Church is accused of turning a blind eye to the cases of more than 300 victims of abuse since 2000, according to the investigative website Mediapart.