The pope’s new policy provides a path forward. It explicitly allows the bishops to involve regular Online Cigarettes Store USA Catholics in investigations of church leaders. The USCCB can take this a step further by requiring that bishops bring regular Catholics into the investigative process. The U.S. church already has a mechanism that can be modified for this purpose. More than 15 years ago, the bishops ordered the creation of “lay review boards” in every American diocese, charging them with the investigation of accusations of sexual abuse of minors by priests. If regular Catholics can help hold priests accountable, surely we can do the same for bishops. The bishops themselves increasingly want this.
Since the Vatican’s new policy puts investigations in the hands of regional archbishops, the USCCB Newport Pleasure should mandate that lay review boards assist every inquiry. If the archbishop himself is under investigation, the lay review board should be empowered to support whomever the Vatican appoints in his place. The bishops could also establish a new lay review board that includes representatives of all dioceses in the relevant geographic area or a national lay review board to handle all investigations, period.
Any of these options would give regular Catholics an opportunity to ensure the accuracy Newport 100s Box and exhaustiveness of any investigation. That's what Catholics want — and that's what the church needs.