Efforts to try Catholic priests accused of sexual abuse in the Dominican Republic have been stepped up with Attorney General Francisco Dominguez Brito’s visit to Poland last week.
At a press conference with Polish prosecutors in Warsaw he said that Polish prosecutors have made progress in the process of representing four minors from the Dominican Republic involved in the case against Father Wojciech Waldemar (Alberto Gil) who served as parish priest in Juncalito, in the province of Santiago. Santiago prosecutor Luisa Liranzo also traveled to Poland to help with preparations for the case.
The case could be heard in Poland in February 2015. Gil is also accused of sexual abuse of minors from Poland. Polish prosecutor Andrej Seremet spoke of the cooperation received from Dominican prosecutors.
The parents of the four minors have presented charges. Lawyers Radoslaw Domalerowski and Marta Chmielewska will represent the Dominican minors.
A bilateral agreement will be drawn up for future situations.
At the time of the presentation of the first accusations against Father Gil, the head of the Catholic Church in the Dominican Republic, Vatican ambassador Josef Wesolowski, who is also from Poland, was also accused of sexual abuse.
The child abuse cases were first revealed in an investigative report by a local Santiago TV station, followed by a national TV report by leading Dominican investigative journalist Nuria Piera. Once the TV programs were aired, both priests left the country.
The cases coincide with the escalating world interest in ending the Catholic Church’s protection of sexual abuse by the priesthood. A new Hollywood film Spotlight will portray early cases of clerical sexual abuse and the cover-up by ecclesiastic authorities investigated by Boston Globe reporters in 2001.