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Tope Alabi July 2, 2017

The head of the Vatican office that handles s*x abuse cases was sacked by Pope Francis on Saturday, just days after he released another top Vatican cardinal to return home to stand trial for alleged s*xual assault.

The developments underscored how the Catholic Church’s s*x abuse crisis has caught up with Francis, threatening to tarnish his legacy over a series of questionable appointments, decisions and oversights in his four-year papacy.

Perhaps sensing a need to change course, Francis declined to renew the mandate of German Cardinal Gerhard Mueller as prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican office that processes and evaluates all cases of priests accused of defiling or molesting minors.

Francis named Mueller’s deputy, Monsignor Luis Ladaria Ferrer, a Spanish Jesuit, to run the powerful office instead.

During Mueller’s five-year term, the congregation amassed a…