We are almost a decade into the global fight against clerical abuse and we have little to show for it. In 2011, the Vatican asked the world’s bishops’ conferences to draw up safeguarding guidelines and submit them for approval by mid-2012. Today, nearly seven years after that deadline passed, only half of bishops’ conferences worldwide have adopted robust, Vatican-approved norms. Of the other half, a quarter have submitted guidelines to Rome, received feedback and are making revisions. This means that a quarter of conferences have failed to adopt even the most basic measures to combat abuse.