Pope Francis declares zero tolerance of sex abuse of minors

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The pope is declaring an all-out war on sex abuse after a historic conference at the Vatican.

He promised to fight back against sex abuse in the Catholic Church.

"He set some pretty stringent goals for the church of complete non-tolerance of sex abuse of minors,” said David Hains, director of communication at the Diocese of Charlotte.

He said the goals were brought back to the United States. He said U.S. bishops would discuss them over the next few months and they’ll meet in June.

"There will definitely be concrete steps coming out of the June meeting,” Hains said.

Earlier this month, the Diocese of Richmond released a long list of clergy accused of credible sex crimes against children.

[READ: Statement on Diocese of Richmond list of priests accused of sexual abuse]

Channel 9 reported that two monks from the Charlotte area were on that list.

[Sex abuse allegations reported against former Belmont Abbey College monks]

The Diocese of Charlotte said a directive about whether to release its own list could come after that meeting at the Vatican.

"We have not made a decision about the publication of a list at this point,” Hains said.

Cox Media Group