The Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People is a comprehensive set of procedures originally established by the USCCB in June 2002 for addressing allegations of sexual abuse of minors by Catholic clergy. The Charter also includes guidelines for reconciliation, healing, accountability, and prevention of future acts of abuse. It was revised in 2005, 2011, and 2018. The Charter directs action in all the following matters
The full charter can be found here.
Reporting sexual misconduct by a bishop
Vos Estis Lux Mundi - You Are the Light of the World was released by the Holy See on May 7, 2019.
It is now Church law as determined by Pope Francis that sets “out procedures for investigating and judging cases of sexual abuse in the church and for holding responsible bishops, religious superiors and others in the case of covering up abuse.”
This video provides a brief introduction to the policy: https://www.usccb.org/resources/vos-estis-lux-mundi-what-does-new-law-do
The Pope issued a revision to the 2019 policy in March 2023, which can be found here: https://www.usccb.org/news/2023/pope-issues-updated-vos-estis-text-handling-abuse-cases
U.S. Dioceses
For dioceses in the United States, the USCCB has created a service to gather and relay reports of sexual misconduct involving bishops of the United States, and reports of their intentional interference in a sexual abuse investigation.
Please have ready the name of the bishop who was involved. The bishop’s name is necessary to direct the report to the proper place. You do not need to provide your own name, but it does help the investigation if you do. Your report will be provided to the appropriate Church authorities and, as warranted, to civil authorities. Otherwise, it will be kept confidential.
If someone wishes to report any other kind of misconduct by a bishop, please contact the Archdiocese at (insert link).
To report sexual abuse by a priest, deacon, religious brother or sister, or layperson working for the Archdiocese please see section on Reporting Abuse (hyperlink to commitment page section).
U.S. Dioceses
For dioceses in the United States, the USCCB has
Abuse (hyperlink to commitment page section).