Priest convicted of Vatican sexual abuse for first time

A Vatican appeals court has convicted a Catholic priest of sexually abusing a minor during pre-seminary school in 2008-09, in the first conviction for sexual abuse committed in the Vatican territory. Father Gabriele Martinelli was sentenced to two and a half years’ imprisonment, partially overturning a first-instance ruling that had found him innocent in 2021 due to lack of substantial evidence. A news investigation first reported the story in 2017 and a year later, the victim reported abuses to the Vatican justice system. In 2019, the Vatican’s prosecutor’s office requested Martinelli’s indictment, which was only possible thanks to a provision adopted by Pope Francis which removed the principle that, up until then, only allowed trials if the abuses were reported within a year of them occurring. The Catholic church has a long history of cases of sexual abuse: a report by the Italian Episcopal Conference estimates a total of 54 victims in 2022, but the actual number is believed to be much higher.