A page has been added for Italian-born diplomat Monsignor Carlo Capella.
I believe I should still be able to find a l little more information, but, for now, this is it. If anyone is adept in Italian would you please see if there is any background information to be found in Italian media. Also, (1) can find out where and when the Monsignor studied canon law ?and (2) does anyone remember Monsignor Capella being in the Windsor area last Christmas?
Enough for now ,
Sylvia
As one who once worked for the Vatican diplomatic service I can add some info about the Carlo Capella case.
Before being assigned as one of the secretaries at the Nunciature [Vatican embassy] in Washington he worked in the headquarters of the Secretariat of State, Vatican City. He would have had to earn a doctorate in Canon Law, which normally is obtained at either the Lateran University or the Gregorian University in Rome.
As you report, and as the Toronto Star stated, “the police” [where, it doesn’t say] claim he had ties [family relations, perhaps] to both the U.S. and Canada. This may have afforded him a perfectly innocent and legitimate reason to visit Windsor last Christmas. Neither the diocese of Windsor nor any other source I’ve read mentions which “…. the parish in Windsor he was visiting at the time he is alleged to have downloaded and distributed child pornography”
Quoting the italian newspaper “La Stampa”, the Vatican Insider website states he is originally a priest of the Milan diocese and is now resident inside the Vatican at a hostel called the “Collegio dei Penitenzieri”, close by the Casa Santa Marta, where pope Francis has taken residence since his election. This newspaper explains that there has been no request of extradition and that Canada and the Holy See have no extradition treaty. The Vatican intends to prosecute him and uphold the view that he has the privilege of diplomatic immunity from arrest elsewhere.
I believe St. Paul U. in Ottawa also offers a Doctorate in Canon Law? I suppose it makes more sense that he would have attended either the Lateran University or the Gregorian University in Rome, but it is possible that he came to Canada, no?
My comment above contains a serious error, which I ask you to please correct by inserting the following:
“…. the parish in Windsor he was visiting at the time he is alleged to have downloaded and distributed child pornography”
I tried to change this by using the “edit” feature on this website but it did not work. Carlo Capella has not yet been convicted by a court, therefore he must remain assumed innocent until proven guilty, should that happen.
I might also point out that the Collegio dei Penitenzieri is the same place where Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, the former Nuncio to the Dominican Republic, was in residence and died while awaiting trial on paedophile charges.
Thanks Cyril. I’ve corrected that first post to add the “alleged.”
What’s your point, Cyril? Mike.
Not to worry Mike. I totally understand Cyril’s point. He’s trying to provide me some accurate information to which I do not have access.
It’s interesting, for example, to know that Monsignor Capella is currently lodged in the same building where Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, the former Nuncio to the Dominican Republic, lived pending his sex abuse trial (Vatican). Ditto the fact that police did NOT request of extradition and that Canada and the Holy See have no extradition treaty.