America’s Vatican correspondent Gerard O’Connell has some ideas about the reasons behind the controversial, 11th-hour intervention from Rome at the U.S. bishops’ November meeting.

At the request of the Vatican, the U.S. bishops postponed a vote on a set of proposals aimed at holding themselves accountable over sexual abuse.

This week on “Inside the Vatican,” we devote the entire show to recent developments in the sexual abuse crisis.

The pope’s decision gives the Maltese archbishop the lead role in the fight against abuse in the church and in the protection of minors.

“This hypothesis—that the reality of personal sexual misconduct by bishops...was a factor which inclined some bishops not to vigorously pursue allegations of abuse among their clergy—I believe that this is a valid hypothesis.”