DENVER (CO)
Crux
November 13, 2018
By Inés San Martín
Amidst a growing global concern over the Church’s handling of abuse cases and cover-up, Pope Francis has appointed the Vatican’s former top prosecutor on cases of clerical sexual abuse, Maltese Archbishop Charles Scicluna, back in his former office, though the prelate will continue heading the Church in Malta.
The decision to name Scicluna adjunct secretary, meaning the third most important official, of the Vatican’s Congregation of the Faith (CDF) was announced on Tuesday, and it follows a year in which the prelate was tapped by Francis to lead a thorough investigation of the situation of the Church in Chile.
Among other things, the CDF handles accusations of abuse against clergy, and Scicluna also serves as president of a board of review for abuse cases in the office. He had been a full-time member of the CDF until 2014, when Pope Benedict XVI appointed him to Malta.
At the CDF Scicluna worked under then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, and the two are credited with the sentencing of thousands of abuser priests, including the late Mexican Father Marcial Maciel Degollado, founder of the Legionaries of Christ, in 2006.
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