Jozef Wesolowski

Initial autopsy results indicate that a former Polish archbishop who would have been the first high-ranking Catholic Church official to go on trial for child sex abuse died of natural causes linked to heart problems, the Vatican said today.

A former archbishop and papal ambassador to the Dominican Republic fell ill and was taken to hospital ahead of the opening of his trial today for alleged child sex offences, a Vatican official said.

Jozef Wesolowski, a former archbishop and papal ambassador to the Dominican Republic, will go on trial, today, accused of child sex offences in a case seen as a test of Pope Francis's drive to clean up the church.

The Vatican has defrocked its former ambassador to the Dominican Republic for sexually abusing boys. It's the first time a top papal envoy has been convicted of the crime and signals that Pope Francis is serious about imposing "zero tolerance" for abuse, regardless of rank.

The Roman Catholic Church ordered a Polish archbishop accused of sexual abuse in the Dominican Republic to be defrocked, pending further criminal proceedings, the Vatican said on Friday.

Initial autopsy results indicate that a former Polish archbishop who would have been the first high-ranking Catholic Church official to go on trial for child sex abuse died of natural causes linked to heart problems, the Vatican said today.

A former archbishop and papal ambassador to the Dominican Republic fell ill and was taken to hospital ahead of the opening of his trial today for alleged child sex offences, a Vatican official said.

Jozef Wesolowski, a former archbishop and papal ambassador to the Dominican Republic, will go on trial, today, accused of child sex offences in a case seen as a test of Pope Francis's drive to clean up the church.

The Vatican has defrocked its former ambassador to the Dominican Republic for sexually abusing boys. It's the first time a top papal envoy has been convicted of the crime and signals that Pope Francis is serious about imposing "zero tolerance" for abuse, regardless of rank.

The Roman Catholic Church ordered a Polish archbishop accused of sexual abuse in the Dominican Republic to be defrocked, pending further criminal proceedings, the Vatican said on Friday.