Vatican sex crimes prosecutor named auxiliary bishop of Malta
VATICAN CITY - The Vatican's sex crimes prosecutor, who for a decade oversaw the Vatican's response to cases of priests who sexually abuse children, is leaving the Vatican and returning to his native Malta to be an auxiliary bishop.
Monsignor Charles Scicluna is known for his tough line on abusive priests. He was brought into the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith from the Vatican's high court in 2002 to handle the tsunami of cases into Rome after the Vatican in 2001 ordered bishops to send all their abuse cases to the Vatican for review.
As the so-called "promotor of justice," Scicluna worked directly under then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI.
The Vatican announced Saturday that Scicluna would be auxiliary bishop for the Maltese capital Valletta. No replacement was named.
