Pope removes legal privileges for Vatican cardinals, bishops

FILE PHOTO: Pope Francis conducts a mass in St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, April 25, 2021. REUTERS/Remo Casilli/File Photo

(Reuters) - Pope Francis ruled on Friday that bishops and cardinals who work in the Vatican will be judged by the same lay tribunal that hears other criminal cases and no longer by an elite panel of prelates.

Francis issued a decree abrogating a provision in the Vatican's civil criminal code whereby bishops and cardinals were judged only by the Court of Cassation, a top body made up of cardinals and other high-ranking clergy.