VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Register
by EDWARD PENTIN 09/11/2014
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has appointed U.S. Msgr. Robert Oliver as the new secretary of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, an advisory body set up by the Holy Father earlier this year.
Msgr. Oliver, who spent 10 years dealing with clerical sex-abuse cases in the Archdiocese of Boston, will take up the position after serving two years as the Vatican’s promoter of justice at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. As “chief prosecutor,” he was charged with investigating clerical sex-abuse cases as well as other grave offenses, including crimes against the sanctity of the Eucharist and violations of the seal of confession. He will be replaced by another U.S. priest, Jesuit Father Robert Geisinger.
In this Sept. 11 interview with Edward Pentin, the Register’s Rome correspondent, Msgr. Oliver discusses his new role, the advances that have been made in the Church’s handling of clerical sex abuse, and how its experience could help other institutions deal with an egregious crime that affects all segments of society.
What will be your new duties as secretary to the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors?
My duties will be many and varied. The purpose of the commission is to help the local Churches to share best practices and undertake new initiatives and policies. So we’re really hoping to have an impact on the whole world, but there has been so much that has been done so well in different parts of Europe and North America, and really around the world, that can be shared now with folks in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
We can learn from one another, particularly from the different cultural experiences, and the commission will have a real opportunity to share some of these things.
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