(Rome) The Vatican press office yesterday announced that the Holy See had arrested a member of its own diplomatic service on suspicion of possession of child pornography.
On August 21, the US Department of Foreign Affairs informed the Vatican by diplomatic means that the suspicion of infringement of the legal protection clause against child pornography could have been violated. The violation, according to the note, could have been made by a representative of the Washington-accredited Diplomatic Corps of the Vatican.
As is the case with diplomatic practices, the suspected diplomat was immediately withdrawn and is currently awaiting further investigations in the Vatican.
The information from the US was handed over to the Vatican's judicial authorities, which initiated investigations. The Vatican promoter iustitiae, comparable to a public prosecutor, has now turned in an international appeal for assistance to the US.
The Vatican press office has recalled that all investigations are subject to the presumption of innocence.
"The former apostolic nuncio for the Dominican Republic, Monsignor Jozef Wesolowski, was the first prisoner in the Vatican because of the possession of hundreds of child pornography pictures", said Europa Press. The former Vatican diplomat, who denied the allegations, was removed from office by Pope Francis in 2013 and charged. In 2014, he was laicized according to surveys of the Congregation of Doctrine for the Faith. He was not arrested due to his health, but he was placed under house arrest in the Vatican. The trial was discontinued because Wesolowski died in August 2015 at the age of 67.
Text: Andreas Becker
Image: Wikicommons
Image: Wikicommons
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG
