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Vatican tribunal convicts former envoy of sex abuse | Vatican tribunal convicts former envoy of sex abuse |
(35 minutes later) | |
A tribunal in the Vatican has convicted the former papal envoy to the Dominican Republic of sex abuse and stripped him of the priesthood. | A tribunal in the Vatican has convicted the former papal envoy to the Dominican Republic of sex abuse and stripped him of the priesthood. |
Jozef Wesolowski, who is originally from Poland, was recalled by the Church last year amid claims that he had abused boys in Santo Domingo. | |
Wesolowski is the highest-ranking Vatican official to have been investigated for sex abuse. | |
Pope Francis has urged the Church to root out and punish abuse by priests. | Pope Francis has urged the Church to root out and punish abuse by priests. |
Wesolowski had served as envoy to the Dominican Republic for five years. He was ordained as a priest and bishop by his compatriot, Pope John Paul II. | |
He has two months to appeal against the sentence. As a citizen of the Vatican, he also faces criminal charges in the city state, which could lead to a prison sentence. | |
Authorities in the Dominican Republic have also opened an investigation into Wesolowski, but have not charged him. | Authorities in the Dominican Republic have also opened an investigation into Wesolowski, but have not charged him. |
Pope Francis last year strengthened the Vatican's laws against child abuse. He has pledged a crackdown on clerics and employees of the Church who exploit minors, comparing their actions to a "satanic mass". |
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