VATICAN CITY
The New York Times
By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
JUNE 15, 2015
The Vatican announced on Monday that in July it would open a trial of its former ambassador to the Dominican Republic on charges of sexually abusing boys while serving in the Caribbean and of possessing child pornography after he was sent back to Rome in 2013.
The case of the former archbishop, Jozef Wesolowski, caused an international scandal when it was learned that the Vatican had secretly recalled him from Santo Domingo to Rome before Dominican officials could investigate, saying that he could not be tried in the Dominican Republic because he had diplomatic immunity.
Mr. Wesolowski came to the attention of the Dominican authorities after a television journalist aired an investigation reporting that the ambassador had a habit of picking up shoeshine boys along the waterfront and taking them to secluded spots. Some boys said he gave them money to molest them.
The former ambassador was defrocked by the Vatican in June 2014 and has been awaiting a criminal trial by the Vatican since then. It will be the first trial on sexual abuse charges held under new rules for criminal procedures put in place by Pope Francis. It was not known until Monday that the Vatican would also bring child pornography charges against the former ambassador.
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