GERMANY
Frankfurter Allgemeine
03.03.2013 · The Roman Catholic Church and its approach to the sexual abuse of children and youths. An interview with the long-time promoter of justice of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Monsignor Charles Scicluna, Auxiliary Bishop of Malta.
Von Daniel Deckers
Monsignor Scicluna, in October 2002, you were appointed by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to investigate allegations of clerical child sex abuse. Why were you chosen?
I was no newcomer to the Roman Curia. After studying civil and canon law, I began working in 1996 at the Roman Catholic Church’s highest court, the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura. In one of the positions I held there, I served as secretary of a commission that produced the draft of an important document regarding the nullity-of-marriage process.
This document was released by the Holy See in 2002 under the title of “Dignitas connubii.” While I was working as secretary of this commission, I attracted the attention of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
What was someone versed in canon law doing in the congregation of faith, and as a “promotor iustitiae” at that?
The congregation was never just an administrative body. It was also a tribunal. It is charged with investigating the most serious crimes defined by canon law, matters that include the breach of the seal of the confessional and the sacramental absolution of accomplices in sexual misconduct. In such cases, a prosecutor known as the promoter of justice, “promotor iustitiae,” is appointed. This position had been vacant since 1995 and was filled in 2002.
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