Former Vatican Ambassador Accused Of Child Sexual Abuse

The Vatican says its former ambassador to the Dominican Republic, Jozef Wesolowski, has lost his diplomatic immunity, and could face criminal charges outside the Holy See on allegations that he sexually abused young boys. The former archbishop, who was defrocked in June, was already facing likely criminal charges under Vatican law.

The announcement that he could also face a trial in either the Dominican Republic, where the alleged abuse occurred, or in Poland, his home country, came only after an explosive article published over the weekend by The New York Times.

In the piece, the Times detailed claims that Wesolowski sexually abused young boys in the Dominican Republic, and then was spirited out of the country by Vatican officials who did not inform local authorities of the evidence, and invoked diplomatic immunity to help Wesolowski avoid prosecution.

Here & Now's Robin Young talks to Laurie Goodstein, national religion correspondent for the New York Times, who reported the story.