VATICAN CITY
Irish Times
Paddy Agnew
Wed, Sep 24, 2014
The Holy See has said the controversial former papal nuncio to the Dominican Republic, Polish Archbishop Josef Wesolowski, is now under investigation by Vatican City state prosecutors on charges of paedophile crime.
Archbishop Wesolowski, who was defrocked in June by a Vatican canon law court which found him guilty of child sex abuse, has been placed under house arrest in the Vatican.
If and when the 66-year-old former Nuncio is brought to trial, this will represent the first time that a senior Vatican official faces criminal charges of child sex abuse.
Commenting on this case last January, senior Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi indicated that, as a Vatican City state citizen, Archbishop Wesolowski would be tried in both a canon law court and subsequently in a Vatican City state court.
Last month, Fr Lombardi also pointed out that as an ex-nuncio, Archbishop Wesolowski no longer enjoyed diplomatic status, adding that he “might also be subjected to judicial procedures from the courts that could have specific jurisdiction over him.”
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