I have long wondered about something.  I do not believe the Church is competent to investigate child abuse.  Priests, religious, and lay workers should be mandatory reporters, obviously, but the Church cannot really investigate in the way that the state would or should.  In the US, that ought to mean that if a credible accusation is made against a Church functionary, the bishop would suspend that person for the duration of the criminal investigation and then act to either restore the person to their position and function or remove them completely.   What does the Church do in states/societies where child abuse laws are not like those in the West?  What steps is the Church taking, in those societies, to deal with Church functionaries who may never face criminal charges for whatever reason?  Given our own bishops' decades-long (probably centuries-long) failure, what are we supposed to expect from bishops in other places?  Does anyone know if the Holy See is addressing this particularly?