Bishop Lazzeri would have known since 2021 – Swiss Catholic Portal

The Ticino newspaper The Region claims that Bishop Valerio Lazzeri, Bishop of Lugano from 2013 to 2022, was informed as early as 2021 of the case of a priest accused of sexual abuse. The Curia of the diocese trusts the civil justice system to clarify the case.

With catt.ch

The Ticino Public Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation in early August 2024 against a priest from the Diocese of Lugano. The charges include sexual acts with children, sexual coercion, sexual acts with persons incapable of discernment or resistance, and pornography. The case was handled by the courts after a young man reported the priest’s inappropriate behavior towards him to the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Lugano, Bishop Alain de Raemy, in February 2024.

The priest left in contact with young people?

In an article dated September 18, 2024, The Region claims, however, that the young man had already informed Mgr Lazzeri of this, while he was leading the diocese in 2021. The newspaper also reports that the young man, in confiding in Mgr Lazzeri, had expressed his concerns about a physical approach by the priest to a second young man, this one a minor.

According to The RegionMgr Lazzeri had promised a decisive intervention with a course of psychological assistance to be imposed on the priest. But the young man has not had any news. Over the last three years, the priest has been entrusted with various tasks in the field of youth, notes the newspaper.

The Curia refers to civil justice

The Curia of Lugano responded to the article with a statement. “As we have already indicated, it is not possible, given the ongoing investigation, for the Curia or the Bishop Emeritus, Mgr Valerio Lazzeri, to make statements,” the text sent to the media assures. “We are confident from the outset that the work of justice will provide the necessary elements to clarify this whole affair which deeply afflicts us. For the rest, the diocese remains at the disposal of justice for any clarification,” the statement states. (cath.ch/catt/cdt/rz)