VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican said on Saturday its police had arrested a monsignor who worked as a diplomat at its embassy in Washington and is suspected of possessing child pornography in the United States and Canada. A statement identified the accused as Msgr. Carlo Alberto Capella and said he was arrested earlier on Saturday in the Vatican after a warrant was issued by the Holy See's chief magistrate at the end of an investigation. The Vatican statement said Capella, who was recalled from the Vatican embassy in Washington last August, was arrested according to articles of a 2013 law signed by Pope Francis. The articles cited by the statement related to child pornography. If indicted, the monsignor will have to stand trial in the Vatican and faces up to 12 years in jail. The scandal is the latest blow to the Catholic Church as it struggles to overcome repeated sex abuse cases among its clergy. Francis has declared zero tolerance over abuse scandals that have beset the Church for decades, but critics say he has not done enough, particularly to hold bishops responsible for mishandling or covering up abuse. The State Department notified the Holy See in August of a possible violation of laws relating to child pornography images by a member of the diplomatic corps of the Holy See accredited to Washington, the Vatican said in September.
A State Department spokesman said in September that the United States had requested that the man's diplomatic immunity be waived to open the way for possible prosecution there but the Vatican refused. Capella entered the diplomatic corps in 2004 and before serving in Washington he held diplomatic posts in Hong Kong and Italy. It was not possible to reach Capella, who the Vatican said was being held in a cell in the Vatican's police barracks. After Capella was recalled to Rome, police in Windsor, Canada said they had issued an arrest warrant for him on suspicion of possessing and distributing child pornography on the internet. A statement by Canadian police at the time said the suspected offences occurred while he was visiting "a place of worship" in Canada. The recalling and arrest of Capella was the worst involving a diplomat since the case in 2013 of former Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, who was Polish. Wesolowski faced charges of paying boys for sexual acts, downloading and buying paedophile material while he was the Vatican's ambassador in the Dominican Republic. He was recalled to Rome by the Vatican, arrested, and stripped of his duties after a report by Dominican media led to an investigation by Dominican magistrates. He died in hospital in 2015 at the age of 67 before his trial before a Vatican court could begin.
Praying that Catholic brothers will expunge all these sodomite infiltrators
Angel Morris
Now think of all the cases that have been convered up. The world must always be aware of the connection between papism and child sexual abuse.
More like praying that Christian brothers will expunge all these papist infiltrators.(USER WAS WARNED FOR BREAKING RULE 2)
Nathan Evans
this
Brayden Ward
At my work there was an openly gay man who surprise surprise was constantly argumentative over everything, was a malignant narcissist, and had to take "permanent leave" for his mental health (I know how far-fetched it sounds that a such a person would have mental illness), but not before costing my company its contract in my city by arguing with clients and "making a scene." So now moving to a new city has cost me and my coworkers thousands of dollars each, and who knows how much it has cost the company. I could tell how this guy talked to our manager that he was bad news, and he constantly complained about "personality conflicts" with all his clients. You'd think HR would screen out these kind of people in the hiring process, but oh no, they actually screen FOR them, for diversity! The Roman Catholic Church has paid an enormous price for ordaining homosexuals since the 1960s, but they only have themselves to blame.
Parker Allen
expunge this
*whips out rosary*
Grayson Gray
I’m Catholic, and as for later, I still am not because but in spite of the clergy and the Vatican. I still believe God is looking over this wretched place, and that’s why I am still there.
Kevin Martinez
Amen.
Justin Garcia
Whatever the causes of this may be, fact is the Roman Catholic Church is permeated with homosexuals and pedophiles, across all ranks. If Satan created a church, this is what it would look like.
Lel, truly mental gymnastics worthy of a papist.
Cooper Morales
What denomination do you belong to then? How sure are you that it contains no fornicators or atheists?
Josiah Morales
Then why is it under such heavy attack?
Adam Perez
I was a mess in my teens: I found God in the RCC, not only in spite but because of its miserable state. It was a call out of despair into another form of misery, but one which has led me to God. Call it madness, it has brought me to God, the true God, not the one I carved in my mind through ideologies and other worldly things. I have plenty of friends who call the RCC all kind of names, up to "the worst thing that ever happened to mankind in all its history"; I stay because in my heart and mind I know it to be the true Church, even with all the sinners who are inside of it. it has fallen a great deal, but God will not allow it to be destroyed by the world and its Prince.
Cameron Robinson
What is a group playing both sides.
Jack Campbell
Catholic moral teaching is against homosexuality and pedophilia. Homosexuals and pedophiles in the RCC are acting contrary to what the Church officially teaches. RCC child sex abuse rates are about on par with other denominations, and Christian religious organizations on the whole have lower child sex abuse rates than public schools.
Get a big enough organization and there's bound to be a few sickos in it, especially when that organization offers access to young people, since the weirdos will join for that reason, also the sociopath's thrill of infiltrating the morally upright and stealing innocence. Even bigger and the sickos are bound to form rings to protect one another. That isn't a problem unique to Catholicism, but the media rakes Catholics over the coals for it because the media hates Catholicism.
Beware of wolves in sheep's clothing.
Connor Jackson
There’s no point in trying to defend our affiliation with the RCC: in the last few months I have noticed how much this board hates the Catholics in here (not that their reasons for doing so have no basis, but it seems like it would be better to just leave this place all together for a while, since there’s no way to argue with them). As much as I am disgusted in my own Church and myself, I am aware that the numbers do not matter: even just one pedophile priest is one too much.
Nicholas Robinson
lol I'm Baptist.
Carter Gomez
Then thank you for your honesty; even most Catholics have no clue about those numbers.
James Anderson
then no denomination is true because sin happend in each one.
Julian Carter
Did not mean that, sorry if I led you and others to think that. We are all sinners and even our clergy is not free from it; still, it is a despicable evil and we must be filled with rightful wrath when hearing about these events, demanding punishment for those who caused harm to our little brethren.
Gotta doubt that claim. Since there was not the moment of pedo ministers around in other denominations like the RCC. Thought as you say even the RCC with it's problems is no greater then secular institutions. USA gymnastics is a prime example of this
Anthony Walker
We're talking about rates, not raw numbers. Catholics are the largest single church organization. If another denominational organization with a fraction of the numbers has molestation rates on par with the Catholic Church, the raw number of cases will be fewer but remain proportional, so of course there aren't going to be as many news stories.
