New head for Vatican office handling abuse cases

April 04, 2017

Pope Francis has appointed a new head for the disciplinary section of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF): the office that handles complaints of sexual abuse by clerics.

Msgr. John Kennedy, an Irish priest of the Dublin archdiocese who has already been working in the CDF, will now head the disciplinary section of that dicastery.

Three days earlier the Pope named Father Hans Zollner, a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, as an adviser to the Congregation for the Clergy. Father Zollner, a Jesuit, is the director of the center for the protection of children at the Gregorian University.

The appointments come as the Vatican faces questions about the effort to curb sexual abuse, following the resignation of another prominent member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

 

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Further information:

• Pope makes appointments amid criticism of sex abuse response (AP)
• Resignations and Appointments (Vatican press office)