Former altar boys have claimed they were molested by priests inside the Vatican, as a lingering scandal surrounding widespread abuse in the Catholic Church erupts at its headquarters once again.
Several anonymous former altar boys at the Vatican’s youth seminary alleged at least two priests kissed and fondled three of them in the Nineties.
The claims will be aired on Sunday on Le Iene (“The Hyenas”), an Italian investigative TV programme, which first broke allegations in 2017 that the senior seminarian, now a priest, had sexually abused teenagers who served as altar boys at papal masses in St Peter’s Basilica.
The fresh cases come to light two months after the Vatican announced Father Gabriele Martinelli and Father Enrico Radice, who allegedly covered up his suspected crimes, would stand trial over claims made in the first TV programme.
In one of the new cases, an alleged victim said a priest sat him on his lap and fondled his penis. In another case, an alleged victim marvelled how Le Iene had heard about things he had only told his confessor.
In a statement issued ahead of the programme, the Vatican press office said a decision on whether to issue indictments in the original case was “imminent”, stating that any new elements or evidence of other crimes that emerge would be considered by Vatican prosecutors in a new investigation.
The case concerns the opaque world of the St Pius X youth seminary, located inside a palazzo just a few steps from the residence of Pope Francis. The seminary houses about a dozen boys aged 11 to 18, who serve as altar boys at papal masses.
However, a small Italian religious order called the Opera Don Folchi who runs the seminary has described the allegations as “mud”, a “violent attack on the church” and nothing more than “calumny and falsifications”.
