Vatican Appoints Bishop Scicluna to Investigate Clergy Sexual Misconduct in Scotland
Glasgow Evening Times
The Vatican has appointed Bishop Charles Scicluna to take testimony of clergy alleging sexual misconduct in Scotland's archdiocese of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, where Cardinal Keith O'Brien was archbishop until resigning under disgrace in February 2013, The National Catholic Reporter reports. The archdiocese's current leader, Archbishop Leo Cushley, announced the investigation in two letters sent to his clergy Tuesday. The letters, which were obtained by NCR Thursday from a priest of the archdiocese, announce what may be the first instance of an investigation by the Vatican of sexual misconduct by one of the church's cardinals, who are normally considered nearly above reproach in the Vatican's hierarchical structure. O'Brien, who had served as the archbishop of Edinburgh since 1985, resigned abruptly just days before Pope Benedict XVI abdicated in February 2013, following allegations by three priests and one former priest of the Scottish archdiocese that the cardinal had inappropriate sexual relations with them dating back some 30 years. Mgr Scicluna, Cushley states, will visit the archdiocese April 8-10 and "will be available to listen" on those days. The Maltese bishop, Cushley writes, has also asked those who wish to speak with him to "prepare their narrative in writing." Dominican Fr. Thomas Doyle, a noted canon and civil lawyer widely known for his advocacy and work on behalf of survivors of sexual abuse by clergy, said in a brief interview Thursday he had "never heard" of such an investigation before. Doyle said that although O'Brien is not specifically mentioned in the documents, it seems the pope is asking Scicluna to begin building evidence specific to the disgraced cardinal. "This is just a preliminary so that they're looking around but it's pretty clear what they're doing and why they're doing it," said Doyle. "I'm not surprised at the way they're doing it," he said. "That makes sense to me." In an emailed statement to NCR Friday, Cushley said he was "grateful" for Scicluna's appointment. "I believe that this is a positive step towards truth and eventual reconciliation, this may not be an easy thing to do, but it is the right thing to do," said Cushley. "I am reassured by this and will be pleased to support Bishop Scicluna in any way I can." "It is also important that the Holy See take such steps as are necessary to establish and evaluate the serious allegations which have been made over the last 18 months or so," the archbishop continued. "In order to allow Bishop Scicluna to listen and report fully, I encourage all those concerned to cooperate serenely with him." Scicluna is most known for being asked by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in 2005 to collect testimony regarding the serial sexual abuser and deceitful founder of the Legionaries of Christ, Fr Marcial Maciel. Scicluna served as the promoter of justice -- a title roughly equivalent to chief prosecutor in the U.S. -- at the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith until 2012, when he was made auxiliary bishop in Malta. At the Vatican post he was known for reviewing hundreds of case files of priests who were eventually dismissed from ministry for sexual abuse.
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