Pope chooses Flemish woman for Vatican top job

Karlijn Demasure has been appointed as the helm of an international centre for sex abuse cases in the Catholic Church. The Fleming is working at the Saint Paul University in Ottawa (Canada), and was a member of the Adriaenssens Commission, which investigated citizens' complaints linked to sexual abuse of children within the Belgian Church.

The centre will have the particular mission of training those in leading functions in the Church how to handle cases of sexual abuse, and will also focus on investigating the issue worldwide.

Pope Francis takes child abuse by clerics very seriously. It was decided to create a new centre for the protection of children at the Vatican. The pope has chosen a woman to head this centre.

It is not often that someone from outside the Church is being appointed for a high position in the Vatican. Talking to the VRT, Karlijn Demasure, a dean at Ottawa's Saint Paul University, explained that further research into the matter is really necessary. "The issue of sexual abuse within the Church hasn't come to light in several countries, especially in Africa and Asia. More problems are expected to emerge; it is better to be prepared and to be better prepared than a couple of years ago."

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