Pope Francis has appointed Archbishop Charles Scicluna in a major role in the congregation responsible to promote and safeguard the doctrine on faith and morals in the Church.

While remaining the Archbishop of Malta, Mgr Scicluna will now serve as Adjunct Secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of the Holy See.

At present, Archbishop Scicluna is a member of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and President of the Special College within the same Congregation, to hear recourses in certain canonical processes.

To fulfil the duties entrusted to him by Pope Francis, Archbishop Scicluna will travel to Rome on a regular basis.

In the absence of the Archbishop, the Auxiliary Bishop, Mgr Joseph Galea Curmi, will assume the ordinary leadership of the Archdiocese of Malta.

Mgr Scicluna is also the Vatican's top investigator on child abuse, having previously served as Promoter of Justice in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under the then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.

He was recently appointed as the Vatican envoy sent to Chile to gather evidence of sex abuse in the Catholic Church.