For years the Catholic Church has been plagued by sexual abuse scandals, which have tarnished its reputation. Yesterday Pope Francis handed the world's top Catholic bishops guidelines to shape the debate at a landmark Vatican summit on tackling clerical sex abuse. Yesterday Roman Catholic bishops representing almost 150 countries met at the Vatican to discuss their response to the sexual abuse of children by members of the clergy. The summit is been convened by Pope Francis and aims to educate the top bishops who will then return home with clear ideas on how to spot and deal with abuse and paedophilia. It also aims to tackle the continuing sexual abuse scandal, which again hit the Church in 2018 in countries across the globe, including Chile, Germany and the United States. Why has it taken the church so long to get this right?

Guest: Father Russell Pollitt, S.J. – Director of the Jesuit Institute South Africa