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Vatican City – The Holy See has lifted the diplomatic immunity of a Vatican diplomat who is under investigation by authorities in Paris for alleged badual badault against a city official.
Alessandro Gisotti, Acting Director of the Vatican Press Office, said the decision was an "extraordinary gesture" that underscored the diplomat's willingness to cooperate fully with the French authorities.
In January, prosecutors in Paris opened an official investigation into an allegation against Italian archbishop Luigi Ventura, 74, a Vatican diplomat who had represented the Holy See in France since 2009.
On July 8, Gisotti confirmed that the Holy See had lifted the immunity of the diplomat following the criminal proceedings against him in France.
"The Holy See waited to make this decision until the conclusion of the preliminary phase" of the investigation, to which the Archbishop "freely participated" before concluding in late June, said Gisotti in a written statement.
Nathalie Loiseau, former French Minister for European Affairs, asked in March that, given the gravity of the accusations, the immunity of the archbishop be lifted so that justice can be done.
"What matters is that the truth is known," she told CNews television in March.
The French newspaper Le Monde first reported that the diplomat was suspected of having badually badaulted a young employee at the Paris mayor on January 17, the day the mayor gave him his New Year's speech in front of diplomats and other personalities.
The French Catholic newspaper La Croix reported that the archbishop met four of his accusers in May and denied their accusations.
The Vatican said in February that it had learned from the press that the investigation had been launched and that it would await the results of the investigation of city prosecutors.
Prior to serving as Apostolic Nuncio to France, Ventura was the representative of the Vatican in Canada from 2001 to 2009, helping to prepare for the visit of Saint John Paul II to Toronto on World Youth Day. in 2002.
He was nuncio to Chile from 1999 to 2001 and previously in Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Niger from 1995 to 1999.
A Vatican nuncio plays an important role in compiling recommendations to the pope concerning the appointment of new bishops and archbishops in the country where he is placed.
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