The vote of standards for accountability of bishops and to set up a commission for receiving complaints against bishops has been postponed. Pope Francis decided to delay the vote to discuss during the meeting of conference presidents in February 2019. Cardinal Danial DiNardo was disappointed in the pope’s decision, but he hopes it will improve the Church’s response to sexual abuse. He wants to still address the victims to apologize for their ongoing pain, but he did admit he’s not happy about the delay of the vote.
The article does a good job of getting the real side of Cardinal DiNardo by showing how he doesn’t entirely agree with the Pope’s decision. The quotes included in this article adds great depth to the postponement of the vote. It would be interesting to do a feature on Pope Francis himself because it would be interesting to know his specific reasoning for the postponement since there has been some controversy surrounding it. I think a feature done on him and how he would handle the the bishop conference with his speech on the victims would be of great human interest and very compelling. Also, a feature done on the victims would make an impact on anyone, not just the Catholic community.
https://www.npr.org/2018/11/12/666993820/vatican-insists-u-s-bishops-put-off-vote-on-their-response-to-sexual-abuse-crisis
Good feature story ideas. I’m going to assume getting an audience/interview with the Pope is pretty much impossible. There has to be a thick line of bureaucracy surrounding him, but not just to protect him – to protect the church as well.