Vatican City’s chief prosecutor has handed down criminal indictments against two priests in connection with sexual abuse allegedly committed at the Preseminario Pio X, a minor seminary located inside Vatican City.
The Press Office of the Holy See announced the formal charges on Tuesday afternoon, in a statement that named two men: the accused abuser, Fr Gabriele Martinelli; and Fr Enrico Radice, who was rector of the seminary at the time, on charges of aiding and abetting. The Press Office statement explained that the indictment stems from a Vatican police investigation opened in 2017 in the wake of media reports, and that the indictments have come down only after Pope Francis waived the statute of limitations for Vatican City.
The Preseminario Pio X is a minor seminary inside Vatican City. Built in the 1950s with a bequest from the Diocese of Como, the institution’s mission is to promote priestly vocations. Pio X seminarians serve Masses in St Peter’s Basilica and at other liturgical functions of the Papal Household. Most of the students are middle school-aged.
Kamil Jarzembowski — who had been a student of the Preseminario Pio X — had previously accused Martinelli, an older student, of serial sexual assault against another seminarian who was Jarzembowski’s roommate. Jarzembowski alleged that several of the assaults took place in his dorm room, with Jarzembowski himself present.
From Catholic Herald