An appeals court in southern Italy confirmed that a former priest used manipulative tactics to sexually abuse several minors, and that members of the diocese, including the bishop, were aware and actively covered up the abuse.
In mid-January, the Court of Appeals of the southern Italian city of Caltanissetta published its “Statement of Reasons,” a 50-page document explaining the court’s July 1 sentencing of Father Giuseppe Rugolo to a three-year prison term.
OSV News obtained a copy of the document.
In it, the court said Father Rugolo’s abuse of three victims — Antonio Messina, Salvatore Cacciato and Filippo Lo Presti — involved a “predatory” pattern of behavior that was characterized as “deviancy masked as pastoral mission.”
The case drew attention for the public release of recordings, including some made by the accused priest during private conversations with Bishop Rosario Gisana of Piazza Armerina.
In one recording, Bishop Gisana tells the former priest, who expressed concerns over the investigation into his abuse, that the “only thing we can do is to pray to the Lord because the problem is not only yours, but mine as well because I covered up this story.”
In a 2024 interview with the Italian newspaper La Stampa, Bishop Gisana said his words were “taken out of context from the conversation.”
Bishop Gisana and the diocesan judicial vicar, Msgr. Vincenzo Murgano, were indicted last year for perjury-related statements made at Father Rugolo’s trial and are set to appear in court March 12.
Frustration with ‘Vos Estis’
While the damning civil court findings against Father Rugolo give some sense of justice, for Messina, the Catholic Church’s inaction in a proven case of systemic cover-up is disheartening.
In an interview with OSV News on Feb. 10, Messina said that assurances that the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors would be “a privileged place of listening” felt hollow.
He also expressed frustration that “Vos Estis Lux Mundi” (“You are the light of the world”), the Church’s procedures for investigating allegations of sexual abuse or the cover-up of abuse, failed to result in disciplinary action against Bishop Gisana, who continues to serve as bishop of the diocese.
“I believe there has been a failure in the application of ‘Vos Estis Lux Mundi,’ and more generally a failure of these norms intended to address abuse,” Messina said. “Every time we tried to invoke these rules, including through my canon lawyer, we were told they could not be applied to my case because they were not retroactive. However, regardless of that, I believe the law did not prevent, and does not prevent, the Holy See from intervening regarding the bishop, especially given that the court ruling is very clear.”
Messina also noted that, despite reports that Father Rugolo was laicized after his 2025 sentencing, he is still listed as an active member of the clergy on the diocesan website.
“There has been no official notice. The Diocese of Piazza Armerina still lists him among its clergy in its website, with assignment in (the Archdiocese of) Ferrara,” Messina told OSV News, adding that “as far as I am concerned, yes, he remains a priest.”
In a statement published July 5, the diocese said that it, “in compliance with canonical regulations, had previously initiated a canonical process that concluded with a sentence of condemnation.”
OSV News reached out to the Diocese of Armerina regarding Father Rugolo’s clerical status and is awaiting a response.
Communication with PCPM
After Rugolo was found guilty in 2024, communication began between Messina and Bishop Luis Manuel Alí Herrera, secretary of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.
Messina shared his correspondence with the commission, as well as a letter he sent to Pope Leo XIV, with OSV News.
In a letter dated Nov. 4, 2024, Bishop Alí informed Messina that Pope Francis had extended an invitation to a private audience at the Vatican.
However, due to scheduling conflicts and the subsequent illness and death of the pope, the meeting would never take place. Nevertheless, Messina kept in contact with the commission secretary, including traveling to Rome to meet with him in May.
Bishop Alí wrote again on July 15 to confirm that he had briefed Pope Leo on Messina’s case, as well as his concerns regarding Bishop Gisana’s continued leadership of the diocese despite the public proof of covering up his abuse.
“His Holiness has clearly expressed that protection from abuse and justice are fundamental points of the Church’s mission and of his pontificate,” the bishop wrote.
“I wish to confirm my and our desire to maintain an open dialogue with you, as Pope Leo XIV indicated to me in recent days. He believes that his Commission for the Protection of Minors can be a privileged place of listening, created exactly for all those who have suffered from abuse and, like you, wish to turn to the Holy See,” he added.
In September, Bishop Alí responded to a letter from Messina, who asked the commission for assistance regarding alleged actions by Bishop Gisana to discredit him as well as alleged harassment by members of the Diocese of Piazza Armerina.
In his letter, the bishop reaffirmed the commission’s mandate, which “concerns the development of protection policies,” and that Messina’s “story will be held in significant consideration by the Commission in the performance of its mission.”
He also assured the survivor of his “will to maintain an open dialogue with you.”
However, Messina told OSV News that, after that letter, multiple attempts to contact the commission secretary, including an update on a requested audience with Pope Leo, went unanswered.
“It is an incomprehensible silence,” Messina said. “The only explanation I fear is that silence is being chosen deliberately, leaving me without an answer. This is what happened with the dicasteries, to which I sent my letters and trial documents asking them to intervene.”
‘Limits’ on mandate
OSV News reached out via email to the pontifical commission Feb. 12 regarding Messina’s frustration over its silence. A message from the commission’s press office confirmed receipt and said it would respond “but probably not before” Feb. 16.
Shortly after OSV News received the commission’s confirmation, Messina said he had received an email with an attached letter from Bishop Alí apologizing for the delayed response. However, the letter, dated Feb. 12, erroneously labeled the year as “2025” instead of “2026.”
Bishop Alí assured that Messina’s concerns were forwarded to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and, while assuring the commission’s continued “openness to dialogue and listening,” he noted that there are “limits that our mandate imposes.”
“In fact, the Commission has no competence regarding individual cases or judicial aspects, especially when it concerns proceedings that are still pending,” the bishop said. “This in no way diminishes the attention and respect with which we received your testimony, but we are not in a position to be able to request information on what you have asked,” the bishop wrote.
The “information” in question was a request Messina made Nov. 1 for answers regarding Father Rugolo’s canonical status.
He also confirmed that Messina’s request for a private audience with Pope Leo “was immediately transmitted to the competent body of the Roman Curia, the Prefecture of the Pontifical Household, so that it could be evaluated according to the agenda and the availability of His Holiness.”
As of publication, the commission had not sent its response to OSV News.
Questions, determination remain
While he appreciated receiving a response after five months of waiting, for Messina, Bishop Alí’s message raises more questions than answers about whom he and survivors like him can turn to when seeking updates on canonical cases or facing problems with local dioceses.
Nevertheless, Messina said that despite alleged attempts by members of the diocese to intimidate or silence him, “I still have a tiny bit of faith, and I hold on to it.”
Despite the suffering and discouragement, “I hope to maintain this determination, and that there will be not only a definitive conviction of the priest who abused me and other boys, but also an exemplary conviction of Bishop Gisana and his judicial vicar, because they covered up and attempted — and continue to attempt — to cover up the crimes he committed.”
When asked what he would like to tell Pope Leo, Messina told OSV News that he would ask him “to listen to me and to put the necessary measures into practice, and not to wait for victims to move forward on their own.”
“We cannot do everything on our own. The Church cannot absolve itself of the responsibility to intervene directly when the facts are clear and, especially in this case, supported by documentation,” he said.
