Read our Privacy noticePope Leo XIV told the Vatican’s doctrine office on Thursday to uphold truth, justice and charity when deciding clergy sex abuse cases, confirming a calibrated approach to dealing with a scandal that has tarnished the Catholic Church’s credibility worldwide. History's first American pope dedicated only a small part of his speech to abuse in an address to members of the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican office that polices Catholic doctrine but also processes abuse cases worldwide. Another Vatican department, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, has become a main point of reference for abuse survivors. Pope Francis had made the commission part of the doctrine office, but Leo appears keen to keep the two functionally separate. Leo met with members of the Regnum Christi who are having a general assembly in Rome.