Italy's Catholic Church at crossroads over sexual abuse investigation

FILE PHOTO: Pedro Salinas, Francois Devaux, Francesco Zanardi and Peter Iseley, survivors of sexual abuse, talk to reporters outside the Vatican in Rome, Italy February 20, 2019. REUTERS/Remo Casilli/File Photo

SAVONA, Italy (Reuters) - Francesco Zanardi has spent the past 12 years documenting sexual abuse of minors by Catholic priests in Italy, filling a vacuum he says is caused by the refusal of the country's Church thus far to launch a major investigation.

When Italian bishops meet next week to elect a new president, Zanardi is hoping to see the start of a long overdue reckoning for the Church, whose leaders will discuss whether to commission an independent investigation of abuse similar to those carried out in France and Germany.