Cardinal Raymond Burke says he’s aiming to wrap up the sex abuse investigation involving Guam’s suspended archbishop by the “summer”. (ie. in the northern hemisphere)
He is presiding over the church tribunal hearing the case against Archbishop Anthony Apuron, who faces multiple allegations of sex abuse of altar boys in the 1970s.
Apuron has denied the claims and has not been criminally charged.
The Guam archdiocese said the Cardinal left the Pacific island U.S. territory on Saturday after meeting this week with witnesses.
Burke is a canon lawyer and former prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, the Holy See’s highest court.
He currently serves as the chaplain of the Knights of Malta, where he has clashed with the Holy See over the removal of the Grand Chancellor of the Knights.
He is also one of four cardinals who signed the controversial dubia, a letter asking Pope Francis to clarify parts of his apostolic exhortation “Amoris Laetitia”.
Some have interpreted the decision to send Burke to Guam as a punishment but Burke has denied that interpretation in a new interview with Italian TV.
The TV outlet reports that it was the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, not Pope Francis, who entrusted him with the assignment.
Francis didn’t even know about it until Burke was already in Guam.
“The pope has never spoken to me about this responsibility,” Burke said.
“I’ve communicated exclusively with the superiors at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which is the usual procedure in these cases.”
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