Here is a translation of the statement released Tuesday evening by the Vatican press office regarding the penal proceedings involving former nuncio Josef Wesolwoski.
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Today, the Promoter of Justice of the Court of First Instance of Vatican City State summoned the former nuncio J. Wesolowski, on whom he had conducted a criminal investigation. The prelate – already judged in the first instance by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and reduced to the lay state at the end of canonical administrative penal process – was notified of the indictment of the criminal proceedings against him for serious acts of abuse of minors in the Dominican Republic.
The seriousness of the allegations has prompted the official investigation to impose a restrictive measure that, in light of the accused’s health condition, as evidenced by medical documentation, consists of house arrest, with its related limitations, in a location within Vatican City State.
The initiative taken by the judicial departments of Vatican City State is a result of the express desire of the Pope, so that a case so serious and delicate would be addressed without delay, with just and necessary rigor, and with full assumption of responsibility on the part of the institutions that are governed by the Holy See.
[Translation by Fr. Thomas Rosica]
