The bishop was charged April 9 with rape, illegal confinement and intimidation.

Scores of lay parish and diocesan leaders have shared that their faith in the church and her leadership has been shaken to its roots.

The advisory panels should become a means of assistance and counsel for their respective national bishops’ conferences. “The members of these groups can instruct, with their own experience, how to deal with the issue of abuse, especially when it comes to listening to victims and accompanying them.”

The Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has rejected an appeal by the now-former Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron of Agana, Guam, upholding its judgment of finding him guilty of abuse against minors.

Immaculate Conception Sister Marie-Paul Ross told the French-language Canadian news agency Presence info that the faithful must accept that ecclesial structures might need to change.

New guidelines and legislation in the Vatican City State are aimed at preventing physical and sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable adults in that territory.