Preliminary investigations into clerical sex abuse should take “no longer than a week”, Apostolic Administrator Charles Scicluna said yesterday.

“The lengthy periods of investigation into such matters are, from today, a thing of the past,” said Mgr Scicluna, who announced a revamp of the Curia’s watchdog in a pastoral message over the weekend.

The Church’s Response Team will be replaced by a Safeguarding Commission next month. Mgr Scicluna said the commission would appoint individual investigators to look into every report received.

Lengthy periods of investigation into such matters are a thing of the past

They would be given a time frame to probe allegations and recommend how to proceed.

While he hoped every investigation would be concluded in less than a week, Mgr Scicluna said all reports would be treated on a case-by-case basis.

“The procedures we have drawn up set no time limit. This is because certain cases may, for instance, require testimony from someone overseas. This would take a little more time,” he said.

The overhaul comes while the Response Team, set up in 1999, faces renewed criticism for the long time it took to look into allegations of sex abuse by Dominican priest Fr Charles Fenech. A woman alleged she was abused during the course of a relationship with Fr Fenech and had reported the case to the Church in 2006.

Mgr. Scicluna said one of the main objectives of the revamp was to strengthen ties between the Church and State authorities to facilitate speedy investigations.

To this end, the head of the new commission, expected to be child protection expert Andrew Azzopardi (see page 6), will meet regularly with the police and social authorities.

In his pastoral message, Mgr Scicluna urged the faithful to report abuse or risk of abuse. He begged forgiveness for all the wrongs that may have wounded people.