Benedict XVI has named Father ROBERT W. OLIVER, a canon lawyer from the Archdiocese of Boston, to be the new Promoter of Justice in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a position that includes monitoring and investigating cases of priests accused of sex abuse.
The 52-year-old priest, who is a member of the Brotherhood of Hope, had served as a judge and promoter of justice in Boston tribunals and as a consultant to the Boston archdiocesan review board, a body that advises Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley in assessing accusations of child sexual abuse by members of the clergy and in determining the suitability of an accused priest for ministry.
At the Vatican, Father Oliver will succeed Auxiliary Bishop Charles Scicluna of Malta who, from 2002 until his appointment as a bishop in October, served as the Vatican’s first doctrinal congregation promoter of justice, a position similar to that of a prosecuting attorney in a civil court. The position also involves monitoring the procedures that national bishops’ conferences have in place for dealing with abuse accusations and handling the dismissal from the priesthood of those guilty of sex abuse.
Benedict XVI named the priest in charge of coordinating his papal visit to Lebanon to head the Maronite Catholic community in Canada.
Bishop-designate MARWAN TABET replaces Maronite Bishop Joseph Khoury, 76, who stepped down for reasons of age.
Tabet coordinated the Pope’s three-day visit to Lebanon in 2012, helping organize the papal itinerary together with Vatican officials.
The Maronite Eparchy of Canada has 16 parishes and missions, with a Catholic population of 4,100 who are served by 14 priests, five sisters and two permanent deacons.
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