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Vatican names former sex-crimes prosecutor to lead appellate board for priests accused of abuse

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The Vatican has appointed its former sex crimes prosecutor to head a new appellate board, which reviews sanctions against priests accused of sexual abuse.

From 2002 to 2012, Bishop Charles Scicluna prosecuted alleged sex crimes for the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Associated Press reports.

According to the news organization, Scicluna was responsible enforcing new, more stringent canon law, which allows the pope to defrock a priest without a church trial if there is overwhelming evidence of wrongdoing. The congregation has reportedly been processing between 400-500 such cases annually in recent years. The AP reports that Scicluna was praised by abuse victims for his hard-line attitude.

Scicluna told the AP that Pope Francis created the appellate board to speed along the appeals, and because he wanted non-trial cases reviewed by canon law experts.

“The work of the commission will help the (congregation) process recourses in an expedited way,” Scicluna wrote in an email.

The Tablet, a publication of International Catholic Weekly, reports that the panel was created in November and is comprised of seven people, all of whom are cardinals, archbishops or bishops.

A separate body, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, was established in 2013 to provide a voice for nuns and laypeople, including abuse survivors. The Catholic News Agency reported in December that this commission plans to submit proposals in early February for new guidelines, statutes and initiatives aimed at ending sexual abuse of minors by clergy.