he said he was abused. he says he was abused for 16 years from the age of eight by his local priest, who was accused of repeated premeditated rape. when i was very young, this abuse happened to me in the vestry. in the vestry of the church! he told me it was a secret between him, me and jesus. but it was fully fledged sexual slavery. when mario soughtjustice, the bishop began a canon law or church trial by the vatican s congregation for the doctrine of the faith. we have obtained the verdict. while some details were disputed, he confessed the abuse took place. the trial recognised his guilt, he even paid mario 112,000 euros as a sort of damages. but he was not defrocked, as mario requested, instead banned from working with minors for life. when mario s case came
happened to me in the vestry. in the vestry of the church! he told me it was a secret between him, me and jesus. but it was fully fledged sexual slavery. when mario soughtjustice, the bishop began a canon law or church trial by the vatican s congregation for the doctrine of the faith. we have obtained the verdict. while some details were disputed, he confessed the abuse took place. the trial recognised his guilt, he even paid mario 112,000 euros as a sort of damages. but he was not defrocked, as mario requested, instead banned from working with minors for life. when mario s case came to the italian courts, a time limit for trials or statute of limitations meant he was never convicted. it all shows the legal quagmire that has failed survivors. there are probably hundreds
approaching bekiaris superior, bishop ambrogio spreafico. he began a first court process, led by the vatican s congregation for the doctrine of the faith under religious or canon law the way the catholic church deals with problems internally. mario saw it as a whitewash, a system swinging into place to protect the abuser. we ve got hold of the judgment from the canon law trial convened by bishop spreafico, which recognised bekiaris guilt, adding that, while the priest disputed some details, he confessed the abuse took place. he even paid mario 112,000 euros as a sort of damages. but the panel did not dismiss him, as mario requested. instead, they banned him from working with minors for life.
that is what your victim says, i add. in our search for the truth, we went up a level to the bishop. why, iasked, hadn t he defrocked the man? the victim was listened to. all the material was sent to the congregation for the doctrine of the faith. it is they who issued the sentence, it wasn t the diocese. but being aware of his guilt, wasn t it immoral not to have advised the vatican to dismiss him? a defendant s guilt can be based on different facts. they could turn out to be of a different scale, a different time frame, a different reality. legal technicalities and interpretations of the verdicts have taken the place of accountability, as survivors wait for italy to look deep inside its soul and atone. mark lowen, bbc news, rome. i want to bring you some news about
abuser and asked him, is it appropriate he is still a practising priest? there are documents of a trial that reached its conclusions, i urge you to read them. i showed him thejudgment we had and public photos of him celebrating mass with minors present. those are people in general, not specifically minors. then i asked directly, is he a paedophile? this is what you are saying, thanks for your work. that is what your victim says, i add. in our search for the truth, we went up a level to the bishop. why, iasked, hadn t he defrocked the man? the victim was listened to. all the material was sent to the congregation for the doctrine of the faith. it is they who issued the sentence, it wasn t the diocese.