Paul KeenanCommission will be linked with the CDF
The Vatican has announced that Pope Francis is to establish a commission to examine appeals submitted by priests punished for child sex abuse and other serious crimes.
In a brief announcement on May 19, the Vatican’s press office explained that the new commission will operate under the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) and will include Archbishop Jose Luis Mollaghan of Rosario, Argentina. The Vatican briefing did not indicate whether the archbishop would lead the commission.
Archbishop Mollaghan, 68, holds a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He was named an auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires in 1993, one year after the current Pope became an auxiliary bishop in the city. The two worked together until Archbishop Mollaghan was named Bishop of San Miguel in 2000.
Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, Vatican representative to UN agencies in Geneva, told a committee there on May 6 that, between 2004 and 2013, the Holy See dismissed 848 priests from the priesthood as a result of sex abuse allegations found to be true. In another 2,572 cases – mainly involving priests of an advanced age – the men were ordered to have no contact with children and were ordered to retreat to a life of prayer and penance.