America’s Roman Catholic bishops voted on Thursday to enact a new oversight system intended to hold them accountable for abuse and cover-ups, a move meant to restore faith in a church whose epidemic of misconduct has driven away parishioners and attracted the attention of state and federal law enforcement.

The move was endorsed at a high-stakes gathering in Baltimore of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. It came one month after Pope Francis issued a sweeping edict that ordered church officials around the world to report cases of sexual abuse — and attempted cover-ups — to their superiors. The decree gave bishops one year to establish new procedures.

The Catholic Church is fighting fires on many fronts. Attorneys general in at least a dozen states are investigating abuse and cover-up allegations against the church, Mass attendance is declining, and a string of bishop scandals has deepened mistrust of its leadership.

The highest-profile prelate to be implicated was former Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington, who was expelled from the priesthood in February after the church found him guilty of abusing children and adult seminarians.