Polish Archbishop in Dominican Republic Accused of 'More Than Just Child Molesting'

The News
October 30, 2013

http://www.thenews.pl/1/10/Artykul/151527,Church-witness-accuses-archbishop-in-paedophilia-case


A deacon in the Dominican Republic has claimed he procured boys for a Polish archbishop recently suspended from his position as the Vatican's representative in the country.

“This is a man who is sexually ill - this is about much more than just molesting children,” Deacon Francisco Xavier Reyes has told the TVP Polish public broadcaster about the charges facing Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski.

“It was anything that would satisfy his sexual appetite,” the deacon, who is himself facing charges of molesting minors, added.

“He told me that there was a particular type of sexual preference that he favoured.”

Deacon Francisco Xavier Reyes revealed that he had had a sexual relationship with the archbishop.

“He kept me [financially] although he was not lavish. Once he gave me 40,000 pesos, as I had a problem at home.”

Charges

It has emerged that the charges facing the archbishop include accusations even more serious than first reported when the case broke in the media in September.

“We learned from the children that Wesolowski took pictures of them while they were masturbating. Oral sex was performed," Nuria Piera, an investigative journalist in the Dominican Republic, tells TVP.

Accusations against Archbishop Wesolowski went public when television footage of the clergyman appeared in which the nuncio was seen visiting areas in the capital known for child prostitution.

On August 21, the Vatican recalled Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski after the archbishop of Santo Domingo, Cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez, informed Pope Francis about the allegations.

“The recall of the nuncio is by no means an effort to avoid taking responsibility for what might possibly be verified,” assured Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardy last month.

The Vatican has declined to comment on the report.

According to Dominican prosecutor Bolivar Sanchez, several boys between the ages of 13 and 18 have been interviewed.

The Vatican is currently carrying out its own investigation, although the precise whereabouts of the Polish archbishop have not been disclosed.

Meanwhile, a second Polish clergyman who had been working in the Dominican Republic also stands accused of molesting children.

Father Wojciech Gil, who led a parish in the highland town of Juncalito for close to a decade, had taken children on holiday to Poland earlier this year.

However, when allegations emerged of crimes against minors in recent years, he chose not to return to his post on the Caribbean island. He has denied the allegations against him. (nh/pg)