ROME — Catholic bishops guilty of covering up cases of child sex abuse should be subject to removal said the Vatican Saturday as it laid out new legal guidelines, part of Pope Francis’ attempts to clean up the church’s tarnished image after years of scandals.

A bishop “may legitimately be removed from office for acts committed or omitted by negligence, resulting in the provocation of grave damage to others, either physical persons or a community as a whole,” the pope said in a statement.

The apostolic letter, issued directly from the pope under his own initiative, stresses that bishops will now be fired for negligence and for not actively pursuing pedophile priests in their dioceses.

The letter pointed out that the pope already has the power to remove bishops for “grave causes,” but it specified the pope would now act “in relation to cases of sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable adults.”

The pope would be assisted in disciplinary decisions by a new “dedicated college of jurists” made up of bishops and cardinals.