Vatican orders archbishop accused of sex abuse to be defrocked

VATICAN CITY
Reuters

(Reuters) – Roman Catholic Church authorities have ordered a Polish archbishop accused of sexual abuse in the Dominican Republic to be defrocked as a priest pending further criminal proceedings, the Vatican said on Friday.

The Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith ordered Josef Wesolowski, a former Vatican nuncio or ambassador to the Caribbean nation to be stripped of the priesthood.

He will have two months to appeal the ruling.

The Vatican said his movements had not been restricted while the case was being considered but that following the decision to expel him from the priesthood “all measures appropriate to the seriousness of the case will be adopted”.

As an independent city state, the Vatican has judicial authority over its territory and can detain or limit the movements of those subject to its jurisdiction.

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.