In a surprising development, Pope Benedict has appointed Msgr Charles Scicluna of the Congregation For The Doctrine Of The Faith (CDF) to the post of auxiliary bishop of his native Malta.
In his role as Chief Prosecutor at the CDF, Msgr Scicluna (53) for much of the last decade has been the Holy See’s senior man with regard to priests and allegations of sexual abuse.
Vatican observers have been asking if the “promotion” of Msgr Scicluna means a significant change. Speaking to a conference at the Pontifical Gregorian University last February, he made reference to the “deadly culture of silence or omertà” that had pervaded the Catholic Church’s reaction to the sex abuse crisis. He has also spoken of the deliberate denial of known facts and misplaced concern about the good name of the the church.