Archbishop Charles Scicluna is promoting new “structures of accountability and audit” within the Church to handle child sexual abuse by members of the clergy.
This emerges from his first interview since he was appointed to the powerful role of adjunct secretary of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith (CDF), the body responsible for promulgating Catholic doctrine.
The Archbishop is also a member of the steering committee for February’s world bishops’ conference that aims to get the ball rolling on setting up these structures.
“People are now asking why they [the Church in Pennsylvania] covered up. Why did they address the issue in the way they did? People have a right to get these answers,” he told The Sunday Times of Malta.
Mgr Scicluna poured cold water on the possibility of being nominated cardinal – a rumour that has been swirling since his appointment – even though he enjoys the Pope’s trust. “Being number two in the CDF is not a job which will give you the red hat,” he said.
Despite his increasing workload at the Vatican, he denied being on the way out as Archbishop. The appointment of Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Galea Curmi last June was made on his request due to the “special missions” assigned to him by the Pope, such as the one in Chile earlier this year to report on the child abuse scandal there.
He also rejected criticism that he was now a “part-time” archbishop. “In a global world, leadership of a country, of a diocese, is compatible with a role on the international level. Who will dare say that Joseph Muscat is a part-time Prime Minister?”