10 of the 13 new cardinals will be eligible to vote in the next conclave, including Jesuit Father Michael Czerny, who oversees the Vatican department for migrants and refugees.
The investigation will determine the credibility of an accusation of abuse allegedly committed “more than 50 years ago” by Archbishop Pinera who, at 103, is the oldest living bishop in the world.
For decades, abusers held the power in a culture of impunity led by an archbishop who was among those accused. Anthony Sablan Apuron was convicted in a secret Vatican trial and suspended in 2016, after which restrictions he supported on the reporting of abuse were eased.
German Catholics are embarking on what is being called a “synodal journey,” but it promises to be a potentially rocky one, focusing on subjects the church usually avoids.