Ex-envoy gets 5-year jail term in porn case

VATICAN CITY >> A former Holy See envoy to Washington, was sentenced Saturday to a five-year prison term for viewing and sharing child pornography, the first time on record that the Vatican has convicted one of its own former diplomats for such crimes.

The punishment for Monsignor Carlo Capella, which included a fine of 5,000 euros, was just shy of the fiveyear, nine-month term that prosecutors requested. The code of this city-state calls for imprisonment of up to five years for possessing and distributing child pornography but says penalties can increase if a “considerable quantity” of material is involved.

“The mistakes that I have made are clear,” Capella said in a statement just before his sentencing, where he said his interest in child pornography came during a period of emotional “weakness.”

The two-day trial brought quick closure to a case in which Capella was recalled from Washington last year after the Vatican rebuffed a U.S. attempt to drop diplomatic immunity.

Capella, who also faced charges in Canada, will serve his sentence in a cell within the Vatican police barracks. He could also be removed from the priesthood in an upcoming canonical trial.

Caprella’s criminal trial came as the Roman Catholic Church finds itself under pressure to more forcefully address the issues of clerical abuse and enact stricter punishments for those convicted of sex crimes. The church is dealing with highprofile abuse cases around the world.