From witnesses on the stand, the names of Bishop Coletti and Cardinal Comastri have both come up repeatedly. But neither is a focus of the trial, and neither is expected to testify. The Vatican did not respond to questions about Coletti’s or Comastri’s roles.
Francesco Zanardi, who has been following the trial as the head of an Italian church-abuse victims’ group, said it was “scandalous” that the two prelates were not under closer examination by the church. Zanardi called Radice, the former seminary rector who is facing charges of aiding and abetting, “just a scapegoat.”
The church, some three decades into its sexual abuse crisis, has often been more willing to punish low-level priests than higher-ups who do not react scrupulously to information they receive concerning possible abuse. In the church’s hierarchy, bishops and cardinals are responsible only to the pope, and the Vatican has struggled to draw up an effective system in which prelates can provide checks on one another. The church has sometimes refrained from disciplining prelates who are already at or near retirement age. And sanctions, when they are applied, tend to be administered privately, without explanation from the Vatican.
Jarzembowski said he holds both Coletti and Comastri “morally responsible.”
“You had a group of 15 boys that you needed to protect, and you failed,” he wrote to Comastri in 2019.
Coletti, 79, is absent from the trial because his doctor said he is unwell. Paperwork submitted to Vatican judges said that Coletti, though still able to live his day-to-day life, was experiencing a form of “cognitive decay,” as well as diabetes.
He is spending his retirement north of Como, in the annex of a 12th-century church, with a garden and two donkeys. Residents in his neighborhood said Coletti is still active in the community, walking in the early evenings, taking confession, and leading Mass with the help of an assistant. A woman who answered the door at Coletti’s home said the bishop wasn’t there and would be gone for “days.” She refused to take any message for him.
The Diocese of Como, reached separately, did not make Coletti available for comment. Nor did the diocese respond to questions seeking more details about Coletti’s mental state.
Comastri, 77, in February left his position as the Vatican’s vicar general — a step some insiders speculated might be a response to the trial. But Comastri told The Post that it was just a normal retirement, not a punishment. He continues to hold rosary services inside St. Peter’s Basilica, posing for photos and blessing babies after the midday ceremonies.
“A priest never retires,” Comastri said in a brief conversation in the sacristy.
Before ending the interview, Comastri reasserted that the Martinelli case had been handled appropriately. He said that the main responsibility fell to Coletti, anyway, and that the allegations — which he said stemmed from “jealousies” — were not credible.
“In my judgment, there are no serious allegations here,” he said.