New Vatican panel to hear appeals of clerics disciplined for abuse

May 20, 2014

VATICAN: Pope Francis is setting up a new commission to hear the appeals of clerics who have been found guilty of serious crimes, including the sexual abuse of minors, the Catholic News Service (CNS) reports.

The new commission will operate under the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), which handles sex-abuse complaints lodged against priests. Earlier this month, in testimony before a UN commission, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi reported that more than 3,400 priests have been disciplined by the Vatican because of sex-abuse charges.

In a brief announcement issued on May 19, the Vatican reported that Archbishop Jose Luis Mollaghan of Rosaria, Argentina, had been named a member of the CDF, "with responsibility for the Commission for the examination of appeals by clergy accused of delicta graviora, to be established." The Vatican had not previously mentioned the creation of such a panel. The appointment of a prelate with the rank of archbishop-- who will leave his current post in Argentina to assume his new responsibilities in Rome-- suggests that Pope Francis views the new commission as an important assignment.--CWN