Mumbai: A new papal decree to deal with clergy abuse has emboldened a section of Catholics in Bombay archdiocese to demand action against a priest arrested for sexually abusing a teenage boy.

“Cardinal Oswald Gracias who is archbishop of Bombay has to act fast and push for this,” says Cletus Gomes from Bandra, a major Catholic center in the western Indian metropolis of Mumbai.

Gomes, 76, wants to know why the cardinal should wait to disrobe a priest “if there is a First Information Report (FIR) filed against (him) for such misdeed.”

Fr Lawrence Johnson, who is facing an FIR, has spent the past six months behind bars, reports mumbaimirror.com

Gomes and other Catholics want the cardinal to take stringent action against the 51-year-old priest, especially after Pope Francis approved measures to sack bishops who mishandle child sexual abuse cases.

Vatican announced on Saturday that bishops who are “negligent” in dealing with priests committing abuse will be removed under the new legal procedures.

A M Sodder, another Catholic layman from Mahim, says the accused priest should have been disrobed by now. The “Vatican is like an appellate authority, but action has to be taken by the archbishop. By now, (Cardinal Gracias( should have taken a decision,” he asserts.

Father Nigel Barrett, spokesperson of Bombay archdiocese, says the case has gone to the Vatican now. “I do not know the timeline to respond by the Vatican,” he added.

The spokesperson also said action cannot be taken against Fr Johnson as long as he is in prison. “This is because he cannot be interviewed. There is always the presumption of innocence till proven guilty.”

The Shivaji Nagar police arrested Fr Johnson on November 27, 2015, on the charge of sexually abusing a 13-year-old boy at a church and booked him under Section 377 (unnatural sex) of the Indian Penal Code and various sections of the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.

Soon after his arrest, the archdiocese set up a three-member panel to probe the allegations, following which a report was submitted.

Mirror had reported that the victim was undergoing counseling. “He goes to school but refuses to go back to the church. We have started going to the church but that place reminds us of the trauma our child has undergone,” said the child’s mother on Sunday, adding that she hopes that the archdiocese sets the right precedent.

The papal decree comes in response to long-running demands by abuse victims and their supporters to hold bishops accountable if they fail to protect their flocks from pedophiles.

Existing laws relating to abuse cases would be tightened, the Pope said.

He acknowledged that canon law already allows for a bishop to be removed for negligence but says he wants a more precise definition of the “grave reasons” that could lead to dismissal.

Vatican spokesman Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying that the pontiff had also established a group of lawyers to help him make decisions that could result in the dismissal of a bishop.

His motu proprio (on his own impulse) decree emphasizes that the Church “loves all its sons, but cares for and protects with special attention those who are weakest and defenseless.”

This explains the requirement for priests, especially bishops, to display “particular diligence” in this area, the Pope said.

Although Pope Francis has now led the Catholic church for more than three years and has promised speedy action on clerical sex abuse scandals and cover-ups, disciplinary action against senior churchmen judged negligent in dealing with these scandals has been sporadic and slow.

The new Papal document comes just two weeks after a top French cardinal came under fire for allegedly covering up a serious case of clerical sexual abuse.

Apart from calling for special diligence by bishops in carrying out their duty to protect children and vulnerable adults from priests who are known molesters, the new document does not imply any greater overall accountability on the part of senior church officials charged with investigating crimes committed by clergy.

Some bishops have covered up abuse by transferring perpetrators from parish to parish rather than reporting them to police.

Pope Francis set up a Vatican commission to establish best practice in relation to abuse cases and expose wrongdoing in parishes in 2014.

The pontiff tweeted on Saturday: “Let us hear the cry of the victims and those suffering, no family without a home, no child without a childhood.”

The Catholic Church has for much of the last 15 years been forced on the defensive by scandals involving priests who are alleged to have abused children and then been transferred rather than handed over to the authorities.