The Vatican has agreed to take the immunity of its "ambassador" in France to be the subject of an investigation for sexual assault

PARIS: The Vatican has lifted the diplomatic immunity of the Apostolic Nuncio to France, Bishop Luigi Ventura
An investigation into alleged "badual badault", said today a spokesman for the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"The Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, which had transmitted to the Holy See a request for the lifting of the immunity of the Apostolic Nuncio to France, formulated by the Paris prosecutor, has received confirmation from the Holy See. Headquarters that he had raised immunity for this case, "said the spokesman.

In February, less than a week before an unprecedented summit on the protection of minors, a new bomb shook the Vatican after it was known that Ventura was under investigation. by the Paris prosecutor's office for alleged "badual badault".

According to Le Monde, the "ambbadador" of the Pope in Paris, a 74-year-old Italian prelate, was accused of "groping" a young commune official during an official ceremony on January 17th.

Appointed Vatican ambbadador to Paris in 2009 by Benedict XVI, a position considered very important, Ventura has a long diplomatic career to his credit: he worked at the nunciature of Brazil, Bolivia and the United Kingdom and was Apostolic Nuncio in Ivory Coast. Burkina Faso, Niger, Chile and Canada.

According to the daily Le Monde, this prelate would have been more than a young official of the delegation for international relations of the municipality, responsible for receiving it at the reception mentioned above. According to Le Monde, the municipality denounced the facts to the police on January 23 on the basis of Article 40 which requires the authorities to report any possible crime.

"There was an incident at a New Year's ceremony before the diplomatic authorities and we quickly made the decision to report it to the prosecutor's office," said Patrick Klugman, head of international relations at the mayor's office. from Paris.

During the act, "a municipal officer has been repeatedly subjected to badual touching on three occasions, fumbling in the bad, quite daring, one of them in front of a witness", told AFP a member of the mayor's office.

The alleged victim, a young man in his thirties, told what had happened to his superiors. Attorney Remi Heitz immediately opened an investigation for "badual badault".

With information from AFP