VATICAN CITY
U.S. Catholic
By Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The senior Vatican official with authority for investigating priests accused of sexual abuse said that, in such cases, “always and everywhere the most important concern is for those who have been the victims of this terrible abuse.”
Archbishop Gerhard L. Muller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said the congregation also has an obligation to ensure that the process of justice does not “become a lynching.”
The archbishop, who was appointed to his office in July, spoke about the doctrinal congregation and its work in an interview with the German service of Vatican Radio. The broadcaster’s English and Italian programs published translated excerpts of the interview Sept. 19.
The German archbishop said he believes he was appointed to the job because he is a theologian and, as a theologian, he will “try to understand what is ailing the church today. In many countries there is a strong polarization: traditionalists against progressives or whatever you would call them.”
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