VATICAN CITY
DFW Catholic
Vatican City, Sep 12, 2013 / 10:57 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A Vatican spokesman has said that the Holy See is willing to hand over a former nuncio accused of sexual misconduct to civil authorities in the Dominican Republic if requested to do so.
Fr. Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, said that the Holy See continues to cooperate fully with ongoing investigations into Archbishop Józef Wesolowski, former apostolic nuncio to the Dominican Republic.
Because there is no extradition treaty between the Vatican and the Dominican Republic, the Holy See is not required to return the nuncio to Dominican officials. In addition, the Vatican has a legal right to invoke diplomatic immunity in protection of the nuncio.
However, Fr. Lombardi told CNA on Sept. 12 that the Holy See has declared “our intention to cooperate with the Dominican authorities whenever they require it.”
The recall of the nuncio to the Vatican “by no means implies the desire to prevent him from assuming his responsibility for whatever may come out of the investigations” in the Dominican Republic,” Fr. Lombardi explained.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.