“These shocking findings show that we bishops have a responsibility to take more decisive action and a duty to ensure justice to the people affected. They also show institutional failures”. This is an excerpt from the statement about the findings of the investigation into “child sexual abuse by priests, deacons and members of Catholic religious orders within the German Bishops’ Conference” released by the German Bishops at the end of their plenary meeting in Fulda today. The bishops decided to “approve” the recommendations made by the Commission which had conducted the investigation. “Some of them”, they explained, “will need further clarification”, but there are some commitments that the bishops have already made: seeking more opportunities to meet the people affected; preparing a standard protocol for managing the documentation of priests; providing external and independent contacts for issues related to child sexual abuse; developing a “supra-diocesan monitoring scheme” for prevention and intervention; and improving victim compensation procedures. The bishops also committed themselves to “clarifying who, from an institutional point of view, was responsible for abuse cases, besides the perpetrators”. Finally, “specific pastoral challenges” will be addressed, such as the question of priestly celibacy or some aspects of Catholic sexual morality. The bishops, who will report to Pope Francis on their discussion, said they agree with him on the need to overcome the “autocracy of Church leaders” to create a new “unity in the Church”.