Does the arrest in the Vatican this week of former papal nuncio Josef Wesolowski, accused of paedophile crimes, represent a watershed moment in the pontificate of Pope Francis?
The 66-year-old Polish archbishop, under house arrest in the Vatican, is to stand trial under Vatican City state jurisdiction either at the end of this year or early in the new year.
The point about this arrest is that, in modern times, it is unprecedented. True, the first thing that Pope Boniface VII did on being elected was to arrest his predecessor, the confused old "hermit" Celestine V, usually recalled as the last pope to "freely" resign office prior to Benedict XVI last year. But that was more than 700 years ago.
True, too, Benedict's butler, Paolo Gabriele, was arrested and sentenced to 18 months in prison in a Vatican City court two years ago for having systematically stolen confidential documents from the papal apartment.
However, Gabriele, who was subsequently pardoned by Benedict, was not an archbishop and was not accused of paedophilia.
In contrast, Wesolowski, who was "defrocked" in June after being found guilty of paedophile crime by a Congregation For The Doctrine Of The Faith (CDF) canon law court, will be accused of having paid for sexual favours from seven "shoeshine boys" on the oceanfront promenade in Santo Domingo, where he served as nuncio to the Dominican Republic.
He will also be asked to explain just how his PC contained almost 100,000 files of paedophile porn. Significantly, the Holy See has already rescinded his diplomatic status, leaving the way open for his extradition to Poland and the Dominican Republic, should those countries opt to press paedophile charges.
Clear warning
While Joaquín Navarro-Valls, former spokesman to Popes
John Paul II
and Benedict, wrote this week in
La Repubblica
that the hard line taken by Francis is but the continuation of policies already established by both his predecessors, some Vatican insiders beg to differ.
However, in 2001, the aged and ailing John Paul II did grant the CDF new powers and norms to enable it to confront the sex abuse crisis.
Pope Benedict spoke of the “filth” within the church during the 2005 Via Crucis at the Colosseum, while in 2010 he delivered his “Letter To The Catholics Of Ireland”. So there is no doubt that, in their different ways, both John Paul II and Benedict attempted to confront the problem of clerical sex abuse.
Yet, it is equally clear that neither pope proved effective. In giving the go-ahead to not only defrock Archbishop Wesolowski but also to put him on trial, Pope Francis is sending a clear and strong message. Furthermore, the decision on Thursday to remove Paraguayan bishop Rogelio Ricardo Livieres, a member of Opus Dei accused of covering up sex abuse cases, underlines the point.
"Paedophilia is a leprosy which devastates the whole body of the church and which strikes bishops too . . . The warning is now very clear. The justice of the Holy See will offer concessions to no one, whoever they may be . . .", commented SIR, the news service of the Italian Bishops Conference this week. More prosaically, Cardinal Velasio De Paolis, pontifical delegate to the Legionaries Of Christ, told Vatican Insider that until now, the church has been judging paedophile crime from a "disciplinary" rather than a "criminal" viewpoint, adding: "The arrest of Archbishop Wesolowski represents a strong, unequivocal political choice by Francis".
It could well be that other senior church figures may also find themselves in the dock. On the plane returning from Jerusalem last May, Pope Francis confirmed that three bishops were under investigation. Media speculation suggests that the other two investigations may involve Chilean bishop Marco Antonio Óredenes Fernández and Peruvian bishop Gabino Miranda, two men accused of child sex abuse offences.
Furthermore, Pope Francis may want to understand just what level of “cover” was guaranteed to Archbishop Wesolowski both by the Vatican’s diplomatic service and by the Polish hierarchy.
With the Vatican Synod on the Family now just a week away, the Francis wind of change would appear to be blowing ever more strongly.