VATICAN CITY
SBS (Australia)

Pope Francis has declined to renew the mandate of the Vatican’s conservative doctrine chief, tapping instead a deputy to lead the powerful congregation that handles sex abuse cases and guarantees Catholic orthodoxy.

In a short statement issued on Saturday, the Vatican said Francis thanked Cardinal Gerhard Mueller for his service. …

Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI selected Mueller, his fellow German, to lead the congregation in 2012.

Benedict had taken a hard line against clerical sex abuse during his time as prefect of the congregation himself, and later as Pope, defrocking hundreds of priests accused of raping and molesting children.

It was also Benedict who insisted bishops around the world send all cases of credibly accused priests to the congregation for processing, since bishops had for decades moved pedophiles around from parish to parish rather than sanction or report them to police.

During Mueller’s tenure the…