WASHINGTON (DC)
Catholic News Service via Crux
October 9, 2020
By Cindy Wooden
Rome – Two priests connected to a minor seminary located at the Vatican will appear before a Vatican criminal court Oct. 14 on charges related to the alleged sexual abuse of students at the seminary.
Father Gabriele Martinelli faces charges of sexually abusing younger boys when he was a seminarian at the St. Pius X Pre-Seminary. Father Enrico Radice, former rector of the seminary, is accused of aiding and abetting the abuse.
The two were indicted in late 2019 following an investigation that began in November 2017.
Since the alleged abuse was said to have occurred prior to 2012, the Vatican had said a year ago, the court’s request to indict the two priests required the personal intervention of Pope Francis because at the time the crimes allegedly occurred, Vatican law required the victim himself to make the accusation within one year of the crime’s occurrence.
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