VATICAN police have arrested a priest and former diplomat to the US and Canada on suspicion of possessing child pornography.
Monsignor Carlo Alberto Capella is being held at the Gendarmerie barracks in the Vatican, having been recalled from the US last September.
He was arrested according to articles of a 2013 law signed by Pope Francis, following the culmination of an investigation by the Vatican’s Promoter of Justice.
If indicted, Msgr Capella will stand trial and could face 12 years in jail.
According to Vatican News, the investigation into Msgr Capella began in late 2017 after Canadian police accused the priest of possessing and distributing child pornography allegedly downloaded while he was in Canada.
At the time, the accused was a functionary of the Apostolic Nunciature in Washington, DC.
A spokesperson for the US State Department told the Washington Post that before Msgr Capella was recalled to the Vatican, the US government had asked for the priest’s diplomatic immunity to be waived so he could be prosecuted in the US.
The Vatican refused the request.
Msgr Capella was ordained in 1993 and joined the Vatican diplomatic corps in 2004.
Before taking up his role in Washington, Msgr Capella held posts in Hong Kong and India.
