Vatican czar who became shepherd to Maltese

One of journalism’s most prolific of Vatican insiders, John L. Allen, dubbed Scicluna a Catholic “hero” for his role in successful prosecutions of clerical sex abusers.

Archbishop Charles Scicluna
Archbishop Charles Scicluna

Archbishop Scicluna, son of Emanuel and Maria Carmela Scicluna, was born in Toronto, Canada on 15 May, 1959. He went to St Sebastian’s primary school in Qormi, St. Joseph Technical School at Rahal Gdid and St Edward’s College in Cottonera. Scicluna then furthered his education by studying law at the University of Malta and graduating as a lawyer in 1984 and after the appropriate training, was awarded Holy Orders in 1986.

He has served in various parishes on the island and also held various positions at the Vatican, where he has also been selected president of a Vatican board hearing appeals in clerical sex abuse cases.

In the Vatican, he was the promoter of justice within the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under the leadership of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who later became Pope Benedict XVI.

Scicluna, 55, has served as Auxiliary Bishop since October 2012. In 2014, he was appointed Apostolic Administrator upon the resignation of Archbishop emeritus Paul Cremona.

His work in prosecuting clerical sex abuse has been widely hailed. Addressing a conference on sexual abuse held in February 2012 at the Pontifical Gregorian University, he said that “the deliberate denial of known facts, and the misplaced concern that the good name of the institution should somehow enjoy absolute priority” were “enemies of truth” and reflected “a deadly culture of silence” which he characterized as a form of omertà, the word used to describe the Mafia’s code of silence to protect criminal conspiracies in the face of civil and criminal authority. 

One of journalism’s most prolific of Vatican insiders, John L. Allen, dubbed Scicluna a Catholic “hero” for his role in successful prosecutions of clerical sex abusers. “His leadership on the church’s effort to recover from its child sexual abuse scandals, especially his role in the prosecution of the late Fr Marcial Maciel Degollado, have made him a hero to reformers everywhere. His appointment will thus be taken not only as an important moment for Malta, but also a sign that good guys don’t always finish last!” Allen, formerly of the National Catholic Reporter and now writing for The Boston Globe, said.