The best
answer is that Jozef
Wesolowski, the former papal nuncio to the Dominican Republic, is somewhere
in the Vatican, after he was recalled
in August before reports of his alleged pedophile crimes were made public.
Right, you
are saying. Another pedophile priest—ho-hum! Get on with it, Marc—find
something new!
Well,
here’s what’s new. First of all, the papal nuncio is an ambassador—he is the
pope’s personal ambassador to—in this case—the government of the Dominican Republic.
So? He’s got diplomatic immunity.
Second,
Wesolowski is the highest Vatican official to be charged with sex abuse crimes,
and more importantly, he’s a Vatican employee. Why is that important? Because
for years, the Vatican has held
that individual priests and bishops are not Vatican employees. Therefore,
American courts cannot haul the Vatican into court, or force the Vatican to
reveal documents or files.
This, of
course, is a little screwy because when a priest is defrocked, or asks to leave
the priesthood, or is accused of sexual abuse of minors—what happens? The
bishop sits down and writes to the Vatican, and waits for an answer.
Well, the
Vatican is on God’s time—and God, it appears, moves slowly, majestically, and
without care for the hustle and haste that the rest of us spin out our lives
with. So that means the bishop is down checking the mailbox every morning for
years on end, and the pederast priest is still in business. No wonder the
bishops were shuffling the pederast priests around—what else could they do?
Ah, but
wait! Because in July of this year, Pope Francis…well, here’s a quote
from The Huffington Post:
Francis
in July also signed off on legislation criminalizing child sex abuse and other
sexual crimes, with punishments ranging up to more than a decade in prison –
laws that apply to Vatican employees as well as diplomatic staff. Those new
laws, however, can't be applied retroactively in this case, officials say.
The same
article goes on to say:
The
Vatican's own rules for conducting sex abuse investigations under church law
calls for cooperation with civil authorities and reporting of abuse allegations
to police where such laws require it. Those norms were crafted in the wake of
the explosion of sex abuse cases in 2010, where thousands of people came
forward in Europe, South America and elsewhere detailing abuse by priests who
were never reported to police even though their bishops knew they were
pedophiles.
Attorney
General Francisco
Domínguez Brito has said if the government finds any concrete evidence
against Wesolowski, it would seek his extradition.
He noted, however, that the Dominican Republic has no extradition agreement
with the Vatican.
Hey,
wait—the Pope was told in July of this year about Wesolowski, but did anyone
run over to the police headquarters to fill them in? They had, after all, a
couple of months—easily—to do so, before the Vatican withdrew its ambassador.
The article
was written on September 12 of this year. Five days ago, Brito announced
that the case against Wesolowski is nearly complete—he was putting the
finishing touches on it. The article then goes on to quote a cardinal in the
Dominican Republic:
En
ese sentido, el cardenal Nicolás de Jesús López Rodríguez reiteró que esa situación le “avergüenza” y manifestó que destituido
embajador del Vaticano será juzgado en la Santa Sede por un tribunal especial
que conoce esos casos.
“El
nuncio tiene que ser juzgado en el tribunal del Vaticano. Allá hay muchos
tribunales, pero el que conoce el caso es Doctrina de la Fe”, puntualizó.
Agregó
que Wesolowsky no puede ser extraditado por su condición diplomática y conforme
a lo establecido en el tratado de Viena, del que la República Dominicana es
signataria.
“Los
diplomáticos tienen que ser juzgados en los países que representan, según la
convención de Viena”, resaltó López Rodríguez.
What’s
the cardinal saying? “The nuncio has to be tried by a Vatican court. There are
many courts there, but the one which has knowledge of this case is the Doctrine
of the Faith.
“He
added that Wesolowski cannot be extradited do to his position as diplomat as
established by the Treaty of Vienna.”
Right—that’s
not Brito speaking, but a cardinal, though one could ask how he got into
the picture. So it’s unclear—what’s Brito thinking?
Several
other questions come to mind. According to one report:
REDACCIÓN
CENTRAL.- El ex nuncio Josef Wesolowski obstaculizó investigaciones de
pederastia en Puerto Rico contra más de una decena de sacerdotes de la diócesis
de Arecibo.
I
won’t translate except to say:
obstaculizó—hindered
decena—dozen
sacerdote—priest
Hmmm—just
a second. Wesolowski was on American soil, hindering investigations of sexual
abuse by priests. Hey, guess what! Wesolowski may have the privilege of being
the first Vatican official on a witness stand in an American court.
Next
on the list—Wesolowski was not the only Polish guy running around in the
Dominican Republic. There was also a priest… but let El Nuevo Día tell the story:
Precisamente,
el jueves, las autoridades dominicanas le solicitaron a la Interpol que
ayude con la captura de otro sacerdote de origen polaco, Wojciech Gil, quien
presuntamente también cometió actos sexuales contra menores en el vecino país.
And
why do the Dominican authorities need the help of Interpol to find Wojciech
Gil? Because at about the same time that the Vatican recalled Wesolowski,
Gil got it into his head to return home to his beloved Poland.
So
we have the perfect storm for the Vatican. It says it cooperates with local
authorities—does it? And why is it that they pulled Wesolowski, and didn’t
report to the local authorities, as their own policy dictated? Will the Vatican
allow for extradition of one Polish priest but not another—an ambassador? Its
new laws allow for up to ten years in prison—but will it loophole Weslowski? As
it is—the worst thing that could happen to him is to be defrocked.
Two
things come to mind. First, whatever the legality of the situation is, the
morality is—to this old atheist—pretty clear. A guy was screwing around with
kids—he should be punished, and punished by the laws of that country. If the
Vatican insists on diplomatic immunity, the whole world will be laughing. Or at
least those of us who have no illusions about the Vatican. The faithful will be
seething.
Second,
get ready, both of you guys, for a taste of the Dominican legal system. As I
understand it, it operates on the belief that the defendant is guilty
until found innocent. Oh, and guess what? Dominican jails are notorious—filthy,
dirt floors, rats, no food or provisions unless provided by family. Puerto
Ricans will remember dear Laura Hernández….
But
look at the bright side.
Won’t
be cold!
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