Archbishop of Malta Charles Scicluna has been appointed adjunct secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (AFP Photo/CLAUDIO REYES) |
Vatican City (AFP) - Pope Francis on Tuesday promoted the Archbishop of Malta, one of the church's most trusted investigators in paedophile priest cases, as the Vatican seeks to quell a damaging global sex abuse scandal.
Mgr Charles
Scicluna, 59, has been appointed adjunct secretary of the Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican's doctrinal watchdog that receives reports
of sex abuse in the church, the Holy See said in a statement.
Scicluna is
already the head of the congregation's special council examining appeals by
priests suspected of serious crimes such as child sex abuse.
He was the
Vatican Court's chief prosecutor investigating cases of paedophilia among
priests for a decade until 2012, making a name for himself with his
determination.
Scicluna
allowed an investigation into Father Marcial Maciel, Mexican founder of the
congregation of the Legionaries of Christ and the perpetrator of numerous cases
of paedophilia.
Earlier
this year, the pope dispatched Scicluna to Chile for an investigation into an
alleged cover-up by Bishop Juan Barros of abuse by a paedophile priest during
the 1980s and 1990s. Barros has since resigned, along with several other
Chilean bishops.
Francis has
called for a meeting of all the heads of Catholic bishops' conferences
worldwide at the Vatican in late February to discuss the issue of the
"protection of minors".
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.