Ex Vatican envoy to Dominican Republic convicted of sexual abuse

VATICAN CITY
Dominican Today

Vatican City.- Bishop Jozef Wesolowski, the Vatican’s ex-ambassador to Dominican Republic was convicted by church court of sexually abusing boys in the Caribbean nation, and defrocked, AP reports.

The conviction comes just 48 hours after Santo Domingo Archdiocese Auxiliary bishop Victor Masalles complained that he had seen Wesolowski roaming the streets of Rome.

The Vatican said Wesolowski was found guilty by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in recent days, and sentenced to the harshest penalty possible against a cleric under canon law: laicization, meaning he can no longer perform priestly duties or present himself as a priest.

AP reports that Wesolowski has two months to appeal. As a papal diplomat and citizen of the Vatican City State, he also faces criminal charges by the tribunal of Vatican City, which can carry a prison term. The Vatican said it would take “adequate measures” to ensure he doesn’t flee pending the outcome of that investigation.

The Polish-born Wesolowski was recalled on Aug. 21, and relieved him of his job after Santo Domingo archbishop and Cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez Rodriguez told Pope Francis about rumors that Wesolowski had sexually abused teenage boys in the Dominican capital.

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.