Wesolowski, a former papal nuncio to the Dominican Republic, died last week while awaiting trial at the Vatican on charges of child sex abuse and possessing child pornography.

He did not appear at the first day of his trial in July, but was taken to hospital.

A funeral Mass was celebrated on Monday by the papal almoner, Polish Archbishop Konrad Krajewski, at the chapel of the Vatican Governate.

A sign of respect for the innocent victims, Archbishop Krajewski forewent the homily and instead invited the faithful to "reflect in silence on the great gift the Lord offers us with the Eucharist and offer it to our brother Joseph".

A Vatican spokesman said the silence instead of the homily was Archbishop Krajewski's idea.

There were more than twenty concelebrants at the funeral Mass.

These including Cardinal James Harvey, a former prefect of the Papal Household, and Msgr Wells, Assessor for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State.

There were also about 50 or so nuns belonging to various congregations, some monks and a group of journalists.

The rite was celebrated as it would be for a lay person, as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith had dismissed Wesolowski from the clerical state.

The CDF rejected his appeal against this.

At the funeral, one of the prayers of the faithful, read by a Pauline nun, was for Wesolowski and another was for his victims.

The faithful reportedly prayed "for the soul of our brother Joseph, that the Lord may free it from the power of the darkness and from eternal death".

The celebrant then invoked forgiveness for all sins "so that the souls of our dead brothers may obtain the forgiveness they always yearned for".

Sources

• Vatican Insider
• ANSA
• Crux Now
• Image: Huffington Post

Former archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, 67, was found dead "during the first hours of the morning", the Vatican said in a statement on August 28.

He was reportedly found in a room with the television turned on at 5 am by a Franciscan priest who works as a confessor at St Peter's Basilica.

Wesolowski had been under modified house arrest.

The Vatican stated that initial autopsy results indicated a "cardiac event".

Further detail on the cause of death could come from subsequent laboratory results, the Vatican added.

Pope Francis "has been duly informed" of the death, the Vatican stated.

Wesolowski served as the Pope's representative to the Dominican Republic until being accused of sexual misconduct with minors in 2013.

The first and only hearing of the former nuncio's trial in the Vatican took place on July 11, but was suspended when he failed to appear.

The court heard that Wesolowski had been transferred to the intensive care unit of a public hospital following the onset of an unexpected illness.

The July hearing by the Vatican city-state court was the first such hearing by the court for an allegation of sexual abuse of minors.

Wesolowski was also being charged by Vatican authorities for accessing pornographic material involving children after being removed from the Dominican Republic and during his reported house arrest.

The criminal charges against the Polish national became possible after 2013, when Pope Francis approved new criminal laws applicable to all Vatican employees across the world.

Any direct employee of the Holy See, including those working in a nunciature, can face a criminal trial at the Vatican as well as criminal prosecution in the country where the alleged crimes occurred.

Wesolowski was dismissed from the clerical state in June 2014 after an investigation by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Sources

• National Catholic Reporter
• The Tablet
• Crux Now
• Image: Angelus News

His is the first trial in the Holy See's criminal court of a senior official on charges of paedophilia and possession of child pornography.

Wesołowski, a former archbishop, was the nuncio to the Dominican Republic.

There, he is alleged to have paid teenage boys for sex.

The trial of the 66-year-old Pole was suspended on Saturday and postponed until a later date, yet to be announced.

No further details of his medical condition were given by the Vatican.

Pope Francis recalled Wesołowski to Rome in August, 2013, after he was made aware of the claims against him.

Wesolowski has since been defrocked.

Continue reading