Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 3, 2023 / 14:02 pm
A bishop accountability group that tracks sexual abuse in the Catholic Church released a statement July 1 voicing serious concerns about Pope Francis’ new appointment of Archbishop Víctor Manuel Fernández to head the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.
The group keeps an online database of sexual abuse by clergy on its website, BishopAccountability.org.
In its statement, written by co-director Anne Barrett Doyle, the group called Fernández’s appointment “a baffling and troubling choice” for a position that “will have immense power, especially when it comes to judging and punishing priests who abuse children.”
Fernández, who is almost 61, has served as the archbishop of La Plata, Argentina, since 2018.