Catholic Church
Prison for priest in Sicily for abuse
Dark clouds over a cross in a church: Compensation must be paid to one of the victims (symbolic image). photo
© Julian Stratenschulte/dpa
A court finds it proven that the priest abused minors for years. But the church apparently wanted to cover up the scandal – with a dubious “scholarship” offer.
A Catholic priest is on the Italian Mediterranean island because of sexual violence against minors Sicily was sentenced to four and a half years in prison.
A court in the city of Enna found it proven that the now 42-year-old clergyman had abused children and young people over several years. The Catholic Church was also ordered to pay compensation to one of the victims. The amount must be determined in a separate procedure.
The case was brought to public attention in 2020 by a man who was still a child at the time of the crimes between 2009 and 2013. He first wrote a letter to Pope Francis. However, according to Italian media reports, the Vatican declared itself not responsible because the now convicted priest had not yet been ordained a priest at the time in question, but was only in training.
However, according to a report by the Italian news agency Ansa, the responsible bishop offered the victim’s family 25,000 euros in cash from the Caritas fund as a “scholarship”. The priest was transferred from Sicily to a parish on the Italian mainland on the grounds that he was “seriously ill”. However, the abuse victim then went to the police, which ultimately led to the lawsuit.