Pope Francis yesterday approved the establishment of a Vatican department to judge bishops accused of covering up, or not preventing, sexual abuse of minors. The department will be under the auspices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican's doctrinal arm, "to judge bishops with regard to crimes of the abuse of office when connected to the abuse of minors".Victims' groups have for years been urging the Vatican to establish clear procedures for making bishops more accountable for abuse in their diocese.Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said the bishops could also be called to account if they had failed to take measures to prevent abuse of minors.Complaints against bishops would be initially investigated by one of three Vatican departments, depending on under whose jurisdiction the bishops fell, before being judged by the doctrinal department."For the first time there might be a clear road map for disciplining bishops who conceal or enable child sexual abuse," said Anne Barrett Doyle, of BishopAccountability.org, an independent group that helps tackle the issue in the Catholic Church."But the path already promises to be bumpy. How can the Vatican discipline enablers when its top ranks are occupied by them?"The Vatican said the pope had approved the proposals of a commission appointed to plan how to root out sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.Part of the task of the commission, which is made up of 17 clerics and lay people from around the world, is to help dioceses put in place "best practices" to prevent abuse and to help victims.The church's worldwide abuse scandal has included instances of known abusers being shunted from parish to parish instead of being defrocked and handed over to the secular authorities.Francis has ordered bishops to co-operate with the new department as a matter of priority, even if it unearths new scandals...