Move for cleric in abuse furore

The Czech foreign ministry has said a Vatican diplomat who has been at the centre of a bitter confrontation between the Holy See and Ireland will become the new papal envoy to Prague.

Ministry spokeswoman Kristina Miskovska said her government agreed to the posting of Archbishop Giuseppe Leanza in Prague but it was not clear when he would take up office.

In a rare move this week the Vatican recalled Archbishop Leanza following accusations that he may have helped sabotage efforts by bishops to report clerical sex abuse cases to police.