Pope Francis has appointed Fr Robert J Geisinger SJ Promoter of Justice for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. In this role, Fr Geisinger will serve as the Vatican’s chief prosecutor and is charged with investigating canon-law offences that are regarded as being the most serious, including crimes against the sanctity of the Eucharist, violations of the seal of confession and allegations of the abuse of minors by clergy.

Fr Geisinger takes over from Fr Robert W Oliver, who has been appointed Secretary to the Vatican Commission for the Safeguarding of Minors. 

A member of the Chicago-Detroit Province of the Society of Jesus, Fr Geisinger has been serving in Rome since 2001 as general procurator for the Society — the chief in-house canonical adviser to Jesuit Superior General Father Adolfo Nicolás.

Born in Parma, Ohio, in 1958, Fr Geisinger has degrees in English literature, philosophy, canon law and divinity. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1981 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1991.  Fr Geisinger has also worked as associate chancellor of the Chicago Archdiocese and as a presiding judge on the Archdiocese’s metropolitan tribunal. [Catholic News Service, Vatican Radio, Chicago-Detroit Province website]