In Italy, a priest arrested for sexual assault on minors in two parishes of Lombardy

A 48 -year -old Italian priest was arrested on Wednesday April 16 for sexual assault on minors – children from 10 to 12 years old – in two parishes between Milan and Verona, in the north of the country, the media and the diocese reported. The riflemen assigned to house this ex-priest of San Paolo, a village of 4,500 inhabitants, added the Italian media.

“The severity of the accusations against Don Ciro Panigara must be assessed with care”reacted the bishop of Brescia, through a press release from its spokesperson sent to the Agency France-Presse (AFP).

According to investigators, he is suspected of having sexually assaulted six children aged 10 to 12 in the first half of the 2010s and then in 2024, in two parishes of Lombardy of which he was responsible, Adro then San Paolo, it adds from the same source.

Omerta and policy of denial

In January, the bishop announced to the parishioners of San Paolo the departure of Ciro Panigara, which barely arrived three months earlier. “Unfortunately appeared serious situations demanding to immediately interrupt your experience” In the parish, the diocese had explained in this letter, which AFP obtained a copy.

Contacted, neither the riflemen nor the Italian episcopal conference (CEI) did not follow up immediately. “We express our solidarity with all the people involved in this painful case, ensuring the judiciary of our full cooperation”reacted the diocese, while calling for ” caution “ in front of the character ” sensitive “ of the situation.

Unlike other countries that have undertaken surveys on pedocrime scandals committed by clerics, Italy, a country with a Catholic majority very linked to the Vatican and where the Church remains very influential, has not carried out a similar work at the national level.

At the end of 2022, the CEI had published a first report, but it only covered the previous two years, a largely insufficient effort for victims' associations who denounce an omerta and a policy of denial.

In January, Haut-Adige, a small autonomous region located near the border with Austria, published an investigation presented as the first independent study on this subject in the country, identifying sixty sexual assaults committed by priests since 1964.