Pope to meet top German bishops

From the Vatican-

Pope Benedict XVI was scheduled later Thursday to meet three top bishops from his native Germany - where the Catholic church has been hit by widespread revelations of sexual abuse of minors by priests.

The pontiff was set to hold a private audience at noon (1000 GMT) with the group headed by the archbishop of Freiburg, Robert Zollitsch, who also chairs the German Episcopal Conference.
Archbishop of Munich Reinhard Marx and the auxiliary bishop of Augsburg, Anton Losinger, were also scheduled to participate in the talks.

The Vatican did not immediately provide further details on the meeting.

On Monday Germany's Catholic bishops announced plans to revise rules on sex abuse by clergy, making clearer that cases have to be reported to the police at the time they happen.
Current rules drafted in 2002 merely say paedophile clergy should be encouraged to turn themselves in to police.

Earlier this month the Vatican said publicly for the first time that sexual molestation must be reported by bishops to a country's civil authorities.

The scandal first unfolded in Germany in late January, with revelations of dozens of cases involving the sexual molestation of minors by priests and other clergy staff from 1950-2000 at church-run schools.

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