Luigi Ventura

Ventura was born on 9 December 1944 in Borgosatollo, Italy. He was ordained a priest on 14 June 1969 for the Diocese of Brescia. To prepare for a diplomatic career he entered the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy in 1967.[4]

He joined the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 1978. He earned a doctor of letters and holds a licentiate in canon law. His assignments from 1978 to 1984 were in Brazil, Bolivia and the United Kingdom. He then worked in Rome with the Section for Relations with States at the Secretariat of State until 1995.[5]

On 25 March 1995, Pope John Paul II appointed him titular archbishop of Equilium and apostolic nuncio to the Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Niger.[6] He was consecrated a bishop on 29 April 1995 by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, Secretary of State[7] .He was made nuncio to Chile on 25 March 1999.[8]

On 22 June 2001, John Paul named him apostolic nuncio to Canada.[9][10]

Pope Benedict XVI appointed him apostolic nuncio to France on 22 September 2009,[11] replacing Fortunato Baldelli who had been appointed as Major Penitentiary of the Apostolic Penitentiary.

In January 2019 the French authorities opened an investigation into Ventura after a junior official at Paris City Hall accused him of molestation. Ventura has not made comment on the allegations.[12]

On 15 February 2019, Le Monde reported that a young male employed by the office of the mayor of Paris had filed a complaint for sexual assault against Ventura and that authorities had launched a formal inquiry in January.[13][14][15][16] The city employee, Mathieu de La Souchère, and two other accusers using aliases, have asked French officials to ask the Vatican to waive Ventura's diplomatic immunity.[17] French European Minister Nathalie Loiseau said she expects the Vatican to allow Ventura to be tried.[18]

On 22 February a Canadian man, Christian Vachon, charged Ventura had touched him improperly in July 2008 when he was 32.[19][20] Vachon said Ventura's successor as Nuncio to Canada, Archbishop Luigi Bonazzi, called him the day he registered his complaint to discuss it.[21]

Ventura allowed himself to be questioned by French police in April. At his own request, Ventura met with his four accusers on 22–23 May and denied their charges. The accusers' attorneys were not allowed to ask him questions.[22] On 8 July a Vatican spokesperson said the Holy See had informed French authorities a week earlier that it was waiving Ventura's diplomatic immunity. He called it "an extraordinary gesture".[23] Le Monde reported it was the first withdrawal of diplomatic immunity on the part of the Vatican in modern history.[24]

As of 30 September 2019, Ventura was living at a residence for retired priests in Rome,[25] still subject to French investigators and prosecution.[26]

Pope Francis accepted his resignation on 17 December 2019,[27] which Ventura had submitted as required on his 75th birthday. Such resignations are either accepted by Pope Francis quickly, as in Ventura’s case, or sometimes he kept bishops in their jobs longer.[28] The fact that Ventura resignation was announced on the same day as Francis’ abuse reforms does not seem to be a coincidence.[29] The resignation and its acceptance had been anticipated since Ventura had been relieved of his responsibilities and moved to Rome in September. Libération, which published some of the earliest complaints against Ventura, called the idea of retiring without referencing the criminal charges against Ventura "a beautiful example of Jesuitry".[30]

• Fortunato Baldelli
• Apostolic Nuncio
• Apostolic Nunciature to France