VATICAN CITY
WQOW
By FRANCES D’EMILIO
Associated Press
VATICAN CITY (AP) – Eight minutes of silence instead of a homily marked the Vatican funeral Monday of a former papal diplomat, whose trial on charges of possession of child pornography and sexual abuse of minors had begun this summer in a Holy See courtroom.
A Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Ciro Benedettini, said time for silent reflection followed the Gospel reading at Jozef Wesolowski’s funeral in a Vatican administrative palazzo’s chapel.
The Holy See, citing preliminary autopsy results, has said Wesolowski, 67, died of a heart attack in his room at the Vatican on Aug. 27.
During the funeral, a ritual prayer was recited so God might “cancel the sins that (Wesolowski) had committed with human fragility.”
Cameras were banned during the funeral. Burial will be in Wesolowski’s native Poland.
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