DOMINICAN REPUBLIC/VATICAN CITY
ABC News
By EZEQUIEL ABIU LOPEZ and NICOLE WINFIELD
Associated Press
Authorities in the Dominican Republic will look into allegations of child sex abuse against the papal envoy to the Caribbean country following his abrupt removal from his post by the Vatican, the attorney general said Wednesday.
Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito was careful to note that his office is aware only of “rumors” about the papal nuncio, Archbishop Josef Wesolowski, and has not received any accusations that would prompt a formal investigation under Dominican law.
A Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, confirmed that Wesolowski had been removed from his post and that the church was conducting an investigation of him. He did not specify the nature of the accusations against the Polish-born prelate.
A nuncio is the pope’s ambassador to a country and such an abrupt removal is rare.
Dominguez told reporters at a news conference that the investigation was in its initial stages and largely in response to media reports of allegations of sexual misconduct by Wesolowski as well as a friend and fellow priest. He said that he had designated a senior official to lead the investigation and coordinate with the Vatican.
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