The Vatican Court of Appeals sentenced an Italian priest to jail on Jan. 23 for “the crime of corruption of minors” relating to the sexual abuse of a fellow student at a school for papal altar boys.
The case is being called historic, as it is the first such ruling that has been handed down for sexual violence perpetuated on Vatican sovereign territory.
Father Gabriele Martinelli was accused of forcing the former altar server, identified as L.G., to have sexual relations with him between 2007 and 2012 while they were students at the St. Pius X pre-seminary.
Martinelli was sentenced to two and a half years in prison and ordered to pay a fine of 1,000 euros (about $1,089.78) to cover the legal proceedings, Vatican News reported.
The 31-year-old Martinelli was ordained to the priesthood in 2017 and is a priest in the Diocese of Como in northern Italy and a member of the “Opera don Folci,” a religious association centered on the formation of priests.
The St. Pius X pre-seminary, where Martinelli was enrolled, offers a formation in the liturgical functions of St. Peter’s Basilica, including papal Masses, for middle and high school boys who are considering a vocation to the priesthood.
The institute was formerly located in Palazzo San Carlo, in Piazza Santa Marta, in the Vatican, just steps away from Pope Francis’ official residence of Casa Santa Marta. However, given the controversy surrounding the cover-up of abuse and Martinelli’s trial, Pope Francis announced the decision to move the pre-seminary to a new location outside Vatican City in 2021.
The allegations against the priest were first reported by Italian journalists in 2017 and by the Associated Press in 2018. At the time, the Vatican was unable to proceed with a case against Martinelli given that the charges were brought against him outside of the one-year statute of limitations.
On June 29, 2019, Pope Francis intervened to allow the case to proceed by lifting the cause of inadmissibility.
On Dec. 8, 2021, the pope in his broader efforts to be more transparent in the handling of sexual abuse cases introduced a sweeping revision to canon law. The revisions introduced new penalties for the cover-up of sexual abuse, mandated that allegations of abuse be immediately reported, and reclassified sexual crimes from under the title of “Crimes Against Special Obligations” to “Offenses Against Human Life, Dignity, and Liberty.”
Martinelli’s trial began in October 2020; however, on Oct. 6, 2021, the Vatican’s lower court acquitted Martinelli of the charges against the younger peer, citing insufficient evidence.
Charges of “aiding and abetting” were also dropped against Father Enrico Radice, the former rector of the pre-seminary.
The Vatican appeals court’s Jan. 23 decision partially reversed the 2021 lower court decision, having found evidence that Martinelli was guilty of “the crime of corruption of minors.”
The appellate court ruling, the Italian network ANSA reported, noted that Martinelli “is not punishable limited to the facts contested up to Aug. 2, 2008, as he is under 16 years of age” and acquits him “of the crimes accused of him in relation to the period following Aug. 9, 2008, due to insufficient evidence” but confirms “the reclassification of the facts in dispute as supplementary to the crime of corruption of minors foreseen and punished by article 335, criminal code, limited to the period from Aug. 9, 2008, to March 19, 2009.”
The conviction can still be appealed to the Vatican’s highest court, the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura.
The victim of Martinelli’s abuse spoke with the Washington Post, on the grounds of anonymity, following the conviction.
“The first feeling I had was this: For years I was told I was a pervert, a faker, a liar, a madman, who was exploiting this for his own ends,” the victim disclosed to the Washington Post.
“But all these years of pain and fatigue now have a meaning. There’s some lightness pouring in,” the victim said.
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Pope Francis addresses pilgrims gathered in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican during his Wednesday general audience on Aug. 7, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media
Vatican City, Aug 7, 2024 / 11:51 am (CNA).
Pope Francis held his first general … […]
Pope Leo XIV greets pilgrims at the Wednesday general audience in St. Peter’s Square, Wednesday, June 25, 2025 / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA
Rome Newsroom, Aug 16, 2025 / 04:00 am (CNA).
Saturday, Aug. 16, marks Pope Leo XIV’s 100th day as pope. Since his May 8 election as the first pope born and raised in the United States, the 69-year-old Chicago native has already left his mark on a jubilee year filled with papal liturgies and a surge in pilgrim enthusiasm.
Here are some of the highlights of the first 100 days of the new Holy Father:
Papal jubilee: Pope Leo offers 16 public Masses in 14 weeks
Pope Leo XIV began his papacy in the heart of the Church’s 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope, and he made the most of this opportunity to interact with Catholic pilgrims from across the globe by offering many Masses with the public.
Pope Leo XIV celebrates Mass for the Jubilee of Sport on June 15, 2025, in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican Media
Leo XIV offered 16 large public Masses in just 14 weeks — an average of more than one per week — including seven Masses in June alone. The pace marks a significant shift from the final years of Pope Francis’ pontificate when the aging pope was unable to offer Mass himself at the altar. Francis was present at only four Masses with the public in the same time period last year.
The papal Masses have drawn large crowds and significant attention, beginning with his first inaugural Mass, which brought 200 foreign delegations — including heads of state and royalty — to the Vatican. Since then, Leo has celebrated liturgies for the jubilees of Families, Priests, and Youth as well as on major solemnities and feasts including Pentecost, Corpus Christi, the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, the Holy Trinity, Sts. Peter and Paul, and Mary, Mother of the Church.
Leo XIV is the first pope elected during a jubilee year since 1700.
Pope Leo XIV on the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul in Rome, June 29, 2025. Credit: Vatican Media
A singing pope
One of Pope Leo’s most unexpected moments came during his first Regina Caeli address, when he stunned a crowd of 200,000 in St. Peter’s Square by singing the Marian hymn rather than reciting it in Latin like his recent predecessors. Since then, he has continued chanting during liturgies and leading crowds in sung versions of the Our Father in Latin.
The move inspired the Pontifical Institute of Sacred Music to launch “Let’s Sing with the Pope,” an online series aimed at making Gregorian chant more accessible.
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First American pope on White Sox stadium jumbotron
In June, the first pope born and raised in the United States appeared on the jumbotron at a gathering of American Catholics at Chicago’s Rate Field — home of his beloved White Sox. In a video message delivered entirely in English, Pope Leo urged young people to be “beacons of hope” and invited all to see that “God is reaching out to you, calling you, inviting you to know his son, Jesus Christ.”
It was the pope’s first direct address to his hometown since his election and one of the earliest papal speeches given entirely in English.
Pope Leo XIV addresses Catholic faithful on the scoreboard at Rate Field, home to the Chicago White Sox, during a celebration and Mass to honor his election as pope on June 14, 2025, in Chicago. Credit: Scott Olson/Getty Images
The new pope’s love of sports has led to some memorable moments. He blessed 159 cyclists as they passed through Vatican City in the final leg of the Giro d’Italia.
A self-described “amateur tennis player,” Pope Leo XIV joked with tennis star Jannik Sinner, ranked the world’s No. 1, whether his white cassock would meet Wimbledon’s requirement for all white attire.
Pope Leo XIV meets with Italian tennis star Jannik Sinner on May 14, 2025, at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican Media
The pope has also been gifted White Sox and Bears jerseys and has signed baseballs for enthusiastic pilgrims.
A voice for peace in Gaza and Ukraine
Pope Leo XIV’s first words were “Peace be with you all,” recalling the first greeting of the risen Christ recorded in Scripture. As wars continued and at times intensified during Pope Leo’s first months, the pope has continued to be a voice for peace.
In June, after U.S. airstrikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, Pope Leo urged world leaders “to stop the tragedy of war before it becomes an irreparable abyss.” Following an Israeli strike that killed three people at Gaza’s only Catholic church in July, he appealed for “a ceasefire, the release of hostages, and full respect for humanitarian law.”
“Today more than ever, humanity cries out and pleads for peace,” the pope said during an Angelus from the window of the Apostolic Palace.
Leo also met with bishops and pilgrims from the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and welcomed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Castel Gandolfo in July, where the two discussed the urgency of “just and lasting paths of peace,” according to the Vatican.
Pope Leo XIV greets Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at Castel Gandolfo on July 9, 2025. Credit: Vatican Media
Leo carries the Eucharist through the streets of Rome
Pope Leo personally carried the Blessed Sacrament through the streets of Rome during a Corpus Christi procession from the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran to the Basilica of St. Mary Major.
“Together, as shepherds and flock, we will feed on the Blessed Sacrament, adore him, and carry him through the streets,” he said. “In doing so, we will present him before the eyes, the consciences, and the hearts of the people.”
More than 20,000 people turned out for Leo XIV’s first Eucharistic procession as pope.
Pope Leo XIV leads a Eucharistic procession in Rome on June 22, 2025, for the feast of Corpus Christi. Credit: Daniel Ibañez/EWTN
Return to Castel Gandolfo
Pope Leo revived the papal tradition of spending summer days at the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo. During his two-week stay in July, he led public Masses in local parishes, greeted pilgrims as he led the Angelus prayer in Liberty Square, and received visiting dignitaries. His stay marks the first papal summer retreat in the lakeside town since the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI.
The sun burst through raindrops right as Pope Leo XIV appeared in front of the apostolic palace of Castel Gandolfo to give the Angelus address on July 13, 2025. Credit: Hannah Brockhaus/CNA
Pope Leo introduces the world to great quotes by St. Augustine
A member of the Augustinian order, Pope Leo has quoted St. Augustine in nearly every one of his homilies as pope. In his first public words on May 8, he said: “I am an Augustinian, a son of St. Augustine, who once said, ‘With you I am a Christian, and for you I am a bishop.’”
Addressing 1 million young people at the Jubilee of Youth in August, he quoted Augustine’s “Confessions”: “You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness… I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more.”
Pope Leo XIV greets crowds at the Jubilee of Youth on Aug. 3, 2025, at Tor Vergata in Rome. Credit: Vatican Media
A focus on artificial intelligence
Pope Leo has frequently spoken about artificial intelligence (AI), which is already shaping up to be a topic of interest in his pontificate with many hoping that he will address it in an encyclical.
Early on in his pontificate, Leo drew parallels between his namesake Pope Leo XIII, who responded to the industrial revolution with Rerum Novarum, and today’s digital revolution, explaining that the rise of AI poses “new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice, and labor.”
“Humanity is at a crossroads, facing the immense potential generated by the digital revolution driven by artificial intelligence,” he warned in a message to the Geneva-based AI for Good Summit. “The impact of this revolution is far-reaching, transforming areas such as education, work, art, health care, governance, the military, and communication.”
Pope Leo XIV smiles during his Wednesday general audience on Aug. 13, 2025, in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican. Credit: Vatican Media
The Vatican website received a revamp shortly after Leo’s election, and insiders noted Leo’s relatively tech-savvy background, including a personal Twitter account prior to his papacy.
The pope also expressed concern in a speech to another AI conference about the negative effects that AI can have on the “intellectual and neurological development” of rising generations and the “loss of the sense of the human” that societies are experiencing.
Leo declares a new doctor of the Church
In one of his most significant theological gestures, Pope Leo named St. John Henry Newman, a 19th-century English convert from Anglicanism, a doctor of the Church — a rare title given to just 37 other saints. The title is granted in recognition of an already canonized saint’s significant contribution to advancing the Church’s knowledge of doctrine, theology, or spirituality.
Pope Leo XIV greets hundreds of thousands of youth and pilgrims ahead of a vigil at Tor Vergata, Rome, Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025. Credit: Mateusz Opila
Leo also approved the upcoming canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati in September as the first saints of his pontificate. He greenlit seven additional causes for canonization, including that of Blessed Bartolo Longo, a former satanist turned founder of the Marian shrine in Pompeii.
Carrying the cross before a million young people at the Jubilee of Youth
Pope Leo addressed the largest crowd of his papacy to date at the Jubilee of Youth, where an estimated 1 million young adults camped out in fields in Tor Vergata, southeast of Rome.
He surprised them by walking through the crowd to the stage, personally carrying the jubilee cross. During the evening vigil, he answered youth questions in English, Italian, and Spanish, offering reflections on loneliness, discernment, and friendship with Christ.
Pope Leo XIV leads young people from around the world in a procession, carrying the Jubilee Year Cross during the Jubilee of Youth this evening in Tor Vergata, on the outskirts of Rome. pic.twitter.com/XPjOnQg9p9
After Eucharistic adoration, chants of “Papa Leone!” echoed long into the night. Leo stayed past 10 p.m. — well beyond the scheduled end.
Earlier in the week, he made a surprise appearance at the opening Mass, joyfully proclaiming in English: “Jesus tells us: You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world!” and the crowd erupted in cheers.
Vatican City, Mar 17, 2019 / 06:15 am (CNA).- Pope Francis called for gestures of peace to oppose hatred and violence Sunday in the wake of attacks on two mosques in New Zealand.
“To the grief for the wars and the conflicts that continue to afflict humanity, we have added that for the victims of the horrible attack on two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand,” Pope Francis said March 17.
The pope asked all gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the Sunday Angelus prayer to join him in a moment of silent prayer for “our Muslim brothers” who were killed in New Zealand, and said that he will continue to pray the dead, the wounded, and their families. A total of 50 people were killed in Friday’s shooting, and 34 of the injured remain in Christchurch Hospital.
Reflecting on the necessity and meaning of suffering, the pope said, “Each of us has his own cross. The Lord shows us at the end of our journey — which is the Resurrection — the beauty of carrying our own cross.”
“The Transfiguration of Christ shows us the Christian perspective of suffering,” Pope Francis said. “It is a necessary, but transitory passage.”
“By showing his glory, Jesus assures us that the cross, the trials, the difficulties in which we struggle have their solution and will be overcome in Easter,” he said.
The pope explained that in Christ’s Transfiguration, Jesus granted his disciples Peter, James, and John a foretaste of the Resurrection shortly before his crucifixion.
“Jesus knew that they would not accept this reality – the reality of the cross, the reality of Jesus’ death,” Francis said. “And so he wants to prepare them to bear the scandal of the passion and death of the cross, so that they will know that this is the way through which the Heavenly Father will bring his Son to glory, raising him from the dead.”
“And this will also be the path of the disciples: no one comes to eternal life except by following Jesus, bringing his own cross into earthly life,” he added.
Pope Francis recommended taking more time for prayer and moments of recollection during the Lenten season to allow Christ’s “light to pervade and radiate in our lives.”
Through “prayer in Christ and in the Holy Spirit” a person can be transformed from within and “can illumine others and the surrounding world,” he said.
“The Virgin Mary teaches us to stay with Jesus even when we do not understand Him and do not understand His ways. Because only by remaining with Him will we see His glory,” Pope Francis said.
What’s the sentence for heresy?
It is apparent that sexual abuse is most frequently justified by heretical rationalizations. When you think of it the criminal abuse of an innocent is confined to one person. Clerical heresy impacts a far broader group of victims.
We have a viper’s tangle to unknot.
It’s deeply deplorable that our mostly gay lavender-lead Church still does not call this scandal as the “homosexual” predation sex abuse scandal but hide its true nature and generally euphemize it as “pedophilia” (which is also evil) sex abuse scandal. This immorality and sin that has ravaged the Church is not clergy pedophilia but clergy homosexual predation sex abuse. The perpetrators here are predominantly the homosexually active ordained portion of the people of God. Consider the disgraced icons of homosexual predator Cardinals: Ted McCarrick (U.S.A.); Hans Groer (Austria); Francesco Coccopalmerio (Vatican/Italy); and Keith O’Brien (Scotland). Like the case reported here, it is homosexual (not pedophilia) predation sex abuse.
“Father Gabriele Martinelli was accused of forcing the former altar server, identified as L.G., to have sexual relations with him between 2007 and 2012 while they were students at the St. Pius X pre-seminary.”
I’m sorry, but this is impossible. Only a male and a female can have sexual relations.
Anything done between two members of the same sex; whether by mutual consent, coercion or force is not “sexual relations”.
Governments do not accept the counterfeiting of their filthy lucre and we should not accept the counterfeiting of human sexuality.
“…sexual abuse of a fellow student at a school for papal altar boys.” AKA HOMOSEXUALITY.
Now how about some justice for the religious Sisters whom Rupnick raped?
Pope Mercy has never demonstrated any awareness that victims of sin deserve mercy too.
Rupnik next???
Doubtful. He has a friend in high places.
What’s the sentence for heresy?
It is apparent that sexual abuse is most frequently justified by heretical rationalizations. When you think of it the criminal abuse of an innocent is confined to one person. Clerical heresy impacts a far broader group of victims.
We have a viper’s tangle to unknot.
It’s deeply deplorable that our mostly gay lavender-lead Church still does not call this scandal as the “homosexual” predation sex abuse scandal but hide its true nature and generally euphemize it as “pedophilia” (which is also evil) sex abuse scandal. This immorality and sin that has ravaged the Church is not clergy pedophilia but clergy homosexual predation sex abuse. The perpetrators here are predominantly the homosexually active ordained portion of the people of God. Consider the disgraced icons of homosexual predator Cardinals: Ted McCarrick (U.S.A.); Hans Groer (Austria); Francesco Coccopalmerio (Vatican/Italy); and Keith O’Brien (Scotland). Like the case reported here, it is homosexual (not pedophilia) predation sex abuse.
Para. 2 – perpetrated
This guy is a member of an outfit engaged in the formation of priests??
“Father Gabriele Martinelli was accused of forcing the former altar server, identified as L.G., to have sexual relations with him between 2007 and 2012 while they were students at the St. Pius X pre-seminary.”
I’m sorry, but this is impossible. Only a male and a female can have sexual relations.
Anything done between two members of the same sex; whether by mutual consent, coercion or force is not “sexual relations”.
Governments do not accept the counterfeiting of their filthy lucre and we should not accept the counterfeiting of human sexuality.