VATICAN CITY
Irish Examiner
The Vatican has put its former ambassador to the Dominican Republic under house arrest after opening a criminal child sex trial against him.
It marks the first time a high-ranking Vatican official has faced criminal charges of sexually abusing youngsters.
Josef Wesolowski had already been defrocked in June after the Vatican’s canon law court found him guilty of abuse and imposed its toughest penalty under church law, laicisation – returning to life as a layman.
But today, the Vatican City State’s separate criminal court opened a preliminary hearing into his case and ordered him placed under house arrest.
A Vatican statement said Wesolwski presented medical documentation detailing health concerns that presumably prevented a more restrictive type of detention. The Vatican has a few small detention rooms inside its police barracks, but no long-term facilities.
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