Father Carlo Capella, the Vatican diplomat priest working in Washington, D.C., who was swooped back to Rome after the U.S. asked his immunity be lifted on charges relating to child pornography is also now wanted in Canada. According to a statement released by Canadian authorities on Friday, the 50-year-old man is wanted for accessing, possessing, and distributing child pornography. It is unknown whether he was involved in actually producing the child pornogrpahy as well. The alleged offense “occurred while the suspect was visiting a place of worship in Windsor,” the statement said, referring to the Canadian city that shares a river with Detroit. The Windsor police department’s child-exploitation unit said the offence took place in February 2017 when Capella was stationed in North America. According to their statement, “The Royal Canadian Mounted Police National Child Exploitation Coordination Center indicating that a suspect in the city of Windsor had allegedly uploaded child pornography using a social networking website.” Now in Rome, Capella will face the Vatican’s attorney general, called the ‘promoter of justice’ which has opened an investigation and, according to the Vatican, “has already commenced international collaboration to obtain elements relative to the case.”
—Barbie Latza Nadeau