Vatican City will no longer house within its walls the Saint Pius X pre-seminary, a residence for children and adolescents, currently at the heart of a trial for suspected rape of a minor.
Read also: A priest of the Society of Saint-Pie X indicted for rape of minors in Vendée
In a statement released Tuesday by the Vatican press room, however, there is no mention of this trial, which began in mid-October before a court of the Holy See.
There appear an Italian priest suspected of raping a minor, when the latter was living in the pre-seminary, as well as a former rector accused of having covered the facts.
The accommodation will not be closed but simply transferred outside the small 44 hectare Vatican City.
"
For a long time, we have been studying the hypothesis of transferring the Saint Pius X pre-seminary outside the Vatican walls, also to promote the proximity of young students to the places where they study and practice their recreational activities
", assures the Vatican .
Read also: Yvelines: a priest of the Society of Saint-Pie X accused of rape
The young residents of this residence, located not far from that of Pope Francis, study in a private school in the center of Rome and help during masses celebrated in Saint Peter's Basilica.
Some of them eventually decide to become priests and go to a seminary to study.
The decision to move the institution from September “
outside of Vatican City to a convenient location
” was recently notified by Pope Francis to the current rector of the pre-seminary, the statement added.
At the same time, the Sovereign Pontiff expressed to the Rector his “
deep gratitude
” for the work carried out by this pre-seminary for 75 years, judging that it retained “
its educational validity
”. He also hopes that the students will continue to participate in the liturgical services of St. Peter's Basilica. The plaintiff in the current trial was 13 years old at the time of the first alleged sexual assaults in 2007 at the Saint Pius X pre-seminary. He accuses Gabriele Martinelli, one year his senior and who has since become a priest, of having raped him. for six years. But the latter denounced "
unfounded
"
accusations
. Pope Francis has made the fight against sexual violence in the Catholic Church one of the priorities of his pontificate.
