On 17 December, the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising announced that its Vicar General, Msgr. Peter Beer, would begin a new mission in the upcoming year. He will become a professore invitato of the Pontifical Gregorian University, working closely with the Centre for Child Protection as its head of research and development.

Currently a member of the CCP's Scientific Advisory Board, Msgr. Beer has been involved with the Centre since its establishment in Munich in 2012. (The CCP's pilot phase ran in Munich from 2012 to 2014 before transferring to Rome. Though initially based in Germany, it has always been an academic component of the Pontifical Gregorian University.) He also worked with Fr. Hans Zollner, SJ, the Centre's president, in the preparation and organization of the bishops' meeting held this past February to address clerical sexual abuse.

In the press release published on the Archdiocese's website, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, Archbishop of Munich and Freising, commended Beer's having "taken up the challenges in dealing with [the cases of abuse that emerged in the archdiocese after 2010] and in the fight against abuse."

Msgr. Beer studied theology at the Universities of Regensburg and Munich and pedagogy at the University of Munich, and holds doctorates in both fields. He was honorary professor of religious education at the College of Philosophy and Theology, Benediktbeuern, and was appointed Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising in 2010.

On 15 April 2020, Msgr. Beer will officially start his work in Rome, where he will also be a house chaplain for the German pilgrim center Casa Santa Maria Patrona della Baviera. He will continue as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt (KUEI), as well as remain involved in pastoral work in Munich.

His academic competencies and experience in many areas of the Church's life will be a great asset as the Centre enters a new phase of development.