Pope Francis is working very hard to distance himself from former Popes. The new pontiff recently announced that he is putting together a "team of experts" to investigate child sex abuse in the Catholic Church.

Earlier today Pope Francis ordered that a team of experts be formed to address the sexual abuse of children in the Catholic Church. This is Pope Francis' first major step to tackle a crisis that has plagued the Catholic Church for two decades.

The experts will look at better ways to screen priests, protect minors and help victims in the face of charges the Vatican was slow in reacting to the child abuse charges. The former pope, Pope Benedict, denied that the church covered up instances of sexual abuse. In Quebec, victims of sex abuse in the Catholic Church got an $18-million settlement 

The archbishop of Boston, Cardinal Sean Patrick O'Malley, told reporters in Vatican City that "The commission will be able to advise the Holy Father about the protection of children and pastoral care of victims of abuse."  O'Malley has pleaded for a more open approach to tackling the Catholic Church sex scandal since he published a database of Boston clergy who were accused of sexual abuse of minors online in 2011. O'Malley said these crimes are "something that the church needs to address". The U.S. Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis warned that it planned to disclose the names of dozens of priests credibly accused of the sexual abuse of children earlier this week.

Earlier this week the Vatican was criticized for refusing to share details of its internal probe into abuse cases with a United Nations panel.

Pope Francis is the first non-European pontiff in 1,300 years in March.

The team will next meet from February 17-19, O'Malley said.