Scandal-hit altar boys school to move outside Vatican

A school for papal altar boys tarnished by a sex abuse scandal will be relocated outside Vatican grounds, the press office of the Holy See announced Tuesday.

The former rector and a former pupil from the St Pius X pre-seminary, which hosts boys interested in the priesthood, are currently on trial before a Vatican court.

The former pupil, now a priest, is accused of assaulting a younger altar boy, and the former rector of covering up the affair.

The Holy See statement said Pope Francis recently told the current rector of the pre-seminary that it should move out to another “convenient place” in September.

The school currently occupies a building near the back of St Peter’s Basilica, close to the Santa Marta guesthouse where the pope lives.

The Holy See statement made no mention of the sex abuse allegations, and noted that Francis thanked the rector for the work done by the institution in its 75-year history.

It said the move had been on the cards “for some time”, partly to allow pupils “to be closer to the places where they study and practice their recreational activities”.

The boys do not study inside the Vatican, and take their classes in central Rome.

The ongoing trial involving the pre-seminary marks the first time the Vatican has criminally prosecuted acts of sex abuse or cover-up that allegedly happened within its territory.

As part of the trial, the court was told that the alleged victim claimed in a letter to have been assaulted multiple times, including in a toilet cubicle inside St Peter’s Basilica.

Agence France-Presse

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