“An unprecedented trial is underway this month at the Vatican, the result of a whistleblower going public.
“A young priest is charged with sexually abusing an altar boy over a five-year period inside Vatican City walls. An older priest is charged with covering up the abuse.
“It’s the first criminal trial for sexual abuse to take place in the Vatican court.
“The first hearing of the trial, held earlier this month, lasted just eight minutes — enough for the Vatican court to hear graphic descriptions of the charges. The alleged victim, identified by his initials, LG, was forced “to undergo carnal acts, acts of sodomy and masturbation at different times and in different places inside Vatican City,” according to charges read out by the court clerk.
“The alleged abuse took place from 2007, when the victim was 13, until 2012.”
By Sylvia Poggioli, National Public Radio — Read more …
Voice of the Faithful ® 
#1 by paularuddy on November 9, 2020 - 2:35 AM
This story is disturbing because of the evident lack of outrage about the abuse of a child in the protection of that seminary for five years, from 2007 to 2012. The article doesn’t answer the question of why the case is just now coming to trial. Was it covered up until the whistleblower went public in 2017? So many questions! Can VOTF get reports from Anne Barrett Doyle, Co-chair of BishopAccountability.org, who is observing the trial according to the article? Should that seminary be closed down? Are the parents of the young seminarians, some as young as 11 years old, involved in decision-making? Can US bishops or the USCCB have any influence in support of Pope Francis’s evident concern? Is Vatican City outside the jurisdiction of the Italian courts? I’d like to hear what other VOTF members think about this.
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