The Clerics and the Choir Boys

Where’s Wesolowski?

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!

A Bad Smell Coming Out of Arecibo

I only caught the last three minutes of it, but it was arresting.

José Colón Otero, a Catholic priest from Arecibo, 50 miles west of San Juan, was on page 4 of the printed version of The New Day, our local rag—and no, not in the way he or anyone would want to be. Why? Well, the headline tells the story—Sacudida la Diócesis de Arecibo or Shaken, the Diocese of Arecibo.

Yes, shaken and not stirred. For the diocese has been hit with allegations of covering up abusive priests, persecuting victims who attempted to go public or press for reforms, and attempting to inhibit lay people calling for investigations.

And just now, Colón Otero has walked into the very sunny and even hotter plaza del pueblo to defend his name.

Among other things, one of his detractors, Luis Jaume Andújar, alleges that he saw Colón Otero kiss a seminarian and touch his genitals. Jaume Andújar confronted Colón Otero, and the two ended up in a fight, which landed them in court. So Jaume Andújar was found guilty, and paid fifty bucks rather than apologize to the priest.

Let them come forward, Colón Otero was saying in the plaza just now—I’ve come forward and met the press, let those who have allegations come forward and let’s submit this to an ecclesiastical court.

Well, perhaps one who will come forward is the vicario parroquial José Pío González Garavito—who wrote out a 27-page sworn declaration stating, among other things, that boys stayed overnight in the parish house, and couldn’t look him in the eye the next morning.

There are other allegations—supposedly, an investigation in 2010 resulted in the dismissal of at least four priests, the expulsion of nine seminarians, and the closure of the Jesús Maestro Seminary in Arecibo. In fact, one seminarian, Daniel Collazo Rivera, said that some of the teachers in the seminary were making advances, and others were in established long-term gay relationships. This, he alleges, was known but covered up by the high hierarchy.

And who is that high hierarchy? Well, the former bishop of Arecibo, Iñaki Mallona and an old friend, Josef Wesolowski, the archenemy of the Archbishop of San Juan and the man who is being investigated for various sexual abuses in Santo Domingo, where he was the papal nuncio. And it seems that Wesolowski was a frequent visitor to Arecibo. Both, alleges the seminarian Collazo Rivera, knew about what was going on.

And so did Rome, or rather the Vatican, since he and six other seminarians sent a letter to the Vatican complaining of what was happening in the seminary. They complained of Colón Otero—whom they say was booted out of Spain for kissing a seminarian—and three other priests who were engaging in moral misconduct. Oh, and Collazo Rivera alleged that there is a mafia in the church. Supposedly, he was offered a stipend of $500 monthly plus books to study at another seminary, but declined. Why? He’s lost his faith.

These sentiments—or similar ones—are echoed by Mayra Méndez Toledo, a Catholic lay person who appeared in the electronic version of the New Day holding a binder full of correspondence—supposedly related to these charges. She too alleges that there has been secrecy, cover up, and threats against those speaking up.

In the meantime, the archbishop of San Juan is speaking up, defending the new bishop of Arecibo, Daniel Fernández Torres, and denying that there is any “mafia” in the church. He also let the interesting fact drop that he has dismissed 32 priests in his time in Puerto Rico for various charges, some including sexual improprieties.

Yeah?

I wrote about this issue in May of this year, after happening on a website that listed not 32 but 14 priests accused of abuse in Puerto Rico. So what about the other 18 priests that the Archbishop alleges he has dismissed? What were they doing—using the Holy Host in Satanic rituals?

Colón Otero may be innocent—I hope he is. But whether he is or not—something is smelling very bad under the hot Puerto Rican sun…..