Pope Francis has been asked to dismiss the Maltese priest convicted of sexually abusing a 13-year-old boy who had been entrusted into his care.

The recommendation was made by the Rome-based Conventual Franciscans Order, to which Fr Donald Bellizzi still belongs while in prison over the sexual crimes committed a decade ago.

Bellizzi, 50, was convicted on appeal of sexually abusing the then teenage boy, who used to attend a special group for those who were keen on becoming priests. He was jailed for three years.

The offences began in 2010 –when the boy attended meetings to find out if he had the vocation to become a priest – and lasted until he was 16 years old when he stood up to the priest and stopped the abuse.

The Franciscan friar cannot be defrocked by Archbishop Charles Scicluna since he belongs to a religious order and is technically not the responsibility of the archbishop or the diocese.

The Secretary General of the Conventual Franciscans, Tomasz Szymczak, told Times of Malta when contacted that the matter was investigated and that the pope had been asked to dismiss the guilty friar.

The boy attended meetings to find out if he had the vocation to become a priest

“The General Curia is now presenting a request to the Holy Father to dismiss Friar Donald from the clerical state and from the religious order, in accordance with the regulations in force,” Szymczak said.

He explained that the order has been following the case since the arraignment in October 2015, when the friar had been suspended from the exercise of his sacred ministry. The matter was then investigated but a canonical trial against him was suspended pending the outcome of the Maltese criminal court case.

The criminal acts were also brought to the attention of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which is responsible for safeguarding the doctrine on faith and morals and for discipline against members of the clergy.

In 2017, it had already authorised Bellizzi’s dismissal from the clerical state.

The Maltese seat of the Franciscan Conventual Friars said in a statement after the court appeal it was “saddened” by the episode, adding that justice had been served.

It also condemned any behaviour that goes against Catholic ethics and moral beliefs.