Dominicans Target Sacked Polish Papal Envoy over Child Sex

Hong Kong Standard
September 11, 2013

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/breaking_news_detail.asp?id=40731&icid=a&d_str=


Parents of several children in the Dominican Republic have accused the Vatican's sacked envoy to the Caribbean nation of pedophilia, authorities said.

“There are a number of parents who have filed reports'' against Polish national Josef Wesolowski, deputy prosecutor Bolivar Sanchez said.

Sanchez was tapped by Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito to lead the investigation, AFP reports.

“So far, we have interviewed three [boys] here; in another location we interviewed four more boys,'' said Sanchez. “They are all from 13 to 18 years old and mainly from very poor neighborhoods.’’

He added there were “some very painful situations.’’

On August 21 Monsignor Wesolowski, the papal nuncio in Santo Domingo, was sacked. The Vatican did not share the news with the public.

Last week, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told the I.Media news agency on Vatican affairs that an investigation was underway in Rome into allegations of child sex abuse against Wesolowski.

The Dominican press said the diplomat had sex for money with underage boys in the “Zona colonial,’’ the historic center of Santo Domingo.

Wesolowski, a 65-year-old Pole who has been the papal envoy in Santo Domingo for five years, was ordained in 1972 by the then Archbishop of Krakow, Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, who later became Pope John Paul II.

John Paul II appointed him nuncio to Bolivia, his first posting.