BishopAccountability.org
 
 

Vatican Puts Priests on Trial over Alleged Abuse Within Its Walls

By Elisabetta Povoledo
New York Times
October 14, 2020

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/14/world/europe/vatican-trial-priests-sexual-abuse.html

One priest is accused of abusing an altar boy at a seminary near the pope’s residence, and the other of covering it up.

Rome - One priest accused of sexually abusing an altar boy in a prominent Vatican City seminary and another accused of covering it up went before the Vatican’s criminal tribunal on Wednesday, the first trial in the city-state over sexual abuse said to have occurred within its walls.

The charges date from 2007 and 2012 and center on allegations of abuse at the St. Pius X youth seminary, a residence for boys — typically between 12 and 18 — who are thinking of becoming priests. Students in the seminary often serve as altar boys in St. Peter’s Basilica, sometimes during papal Masses.

The priest accused of abuse, the Rev. Gabriele Martinelli, was 17 at the time of the initial alleged assault and was a senior altar boy at the seminary. The victim was 16. In 2017, Father Martinelli was ordained as a priest in Como, Italy.

Father Martinelli is accused of forcing the victim — who has been publicly identified only by his initials — through threats and violence to “submit to carnal relations, acts of sodomy, and masturbation” on a number of occasions in Vatican City, according to the charges read by a court clerk on Wednesday.

The Rev. Enrico Radice, who was the rector of the seminary at the time, has been accused of aiding and abetting the abuse. He lied to Vatican investigators, telling them in 2018 that he had no knowledge of abuse at the seminary, statements that hampered the investigation, according to the charges read by the clerk.

Both defendants were present in court on Wednesday for the procedural hearing, which lasted just eight minutes before the trial was adjourned until later this month, when both men are expected to take the stand. Neither defendant has responded publicly to the accusations, and lawyers for the defendants did not respond to requests for comment.

 

 

 

 

 




.

 
 

Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.