VATICAN CITY
Courier-Mail (Australia)
THE former papal envoy to the Dominican Republic, who went on trial at the Holy See this summer for alleged sexual abuse of minors, died of a heart attack, according to initial autopsy results, the Vatican said Saturday.
A Vatican statement indicated that laboratory results, expected in coming days, could elaborate on the cause of the sudden death of Jozef Wesolowski, a 67-year-old Pole, on Thursday evening at the Vatican.
The Vatican announced the death on Friday.
After work performed so far, “and from the initial conclusions based on the macroscopic examination, a natural cause of death, due to a cardiac event, is confirmed,” said the Vatican statement.
The Vatican prosecutor’s office appointed a panel of three experts coordinated by a forensic medicine professor at Rome’s Tor Vergata University to determine the cause of death.
A Vatican trial against Wesolowski was an opportunity for Pope Francis to show he’s carrying out pledges to punish high-ranking churchmen accused of sexually abusing minors or covering up abuse.
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