Alleged paedophile priest to go on trial today at the Vatican - unprecedented

[Surya Gayatri]

Vatican holds first trial of cleric accused of paedophilia

Vatican City (AFP) - The first ever trial of a former papal official accused of paedophile crimes opens Saturday at the Vatican in what is viewed as belated Church efforts to battle child abusers among the clergy.

The unprecedented trial will hear the case of former Polish archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, who is accused of possessing child pornography in Rome in 2013-14, and the sexual abuse of minors during his 2008-13 stint as the Vatican nuncio, or ambassador, in the Dominican Republic.



Wesolowski, 66, was secretly recalled from his posting in 2012 after the Church hierarchy was informed that he was regularly paying young Dominican boys for sexual services.

He was defrocked by a Church court in June 2014 but remained free until September of that year, when he was placed under house arrest -- reportedly for reasons of failing health -- under an order the Vatican said came directly from Pope Francis.

He is seen as a test case in Francis's push to take a more active role in prosecuting predators in the face of accusations from abuse victims, their families and supporters that the Catholic Church has not done enough to identify and punish paedophiles in its midst.

http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-vatican-holds-first-trial-of-cleric-accused-of-paedophilia-2015-7?IR=T

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Let's hope some of the fog and opacity in the Vatican can be cleared away, and that this alleged child-molester actually end up going to prison.

UPDATE:

Reports are saying he's just been rushed to hospital this morning, before the trial can even start. To be continued...

[Romeo.lima333]

1. hope n change coming to the vatican

[Surya Gayatri]

2. Well, it's better than centuries of past silence and subterfuge...