“We would have been far more impressed if this new law required church officials to report to police and prosecutors instead. Oversight from external, secular authorities will better protect children and deter cover-ups.”

This week on “Inside the Vatican,” Gerry and I talk about three stories from Pope Francis’ trip to Bulgaria and North Macedonia.

Pope Francis today issued a wide-ranging decree, known as a "motu proprio" or executive decree, that lays down procedures and norms for reporting abuse in the church, aimed at the eradication of abuse in the church.

Visiting the small Catholic communities in Bulgaria and North Macedonia offered an opportunity to encourage the faithful to remember God's miracle of being able to feed a multitude with just a few loaves and fishes, Pope Francis said.

Pope Francis said, “There were deaconesses at the beginning [of the church], but [the question is] was theirs a sacramental ordination or not?”