Story highlights Jozef Wesoloswki drank alcohol and paid children to perform sex acts, newspaper reports

Wesolowski is the highest-ranking ex-Vatican official to be arrested on charges related to child sex abuse

He's accused of having child pornography and other allegations, and his trial begins July 11

(CNN) The Pope's former ambassador to the Dominican Republic, Jozef Wesolowski -- accused of offenses related to child abuse -- will be tried at the Vatican beginning next month, the Vatican said Monday.

Wesolowski, 66, is the highest-ranking former Vatican official to be arrested for allegations related to the sexual abuse of minors and the first to be tried on such charges at the Vatican.

Wesolowski is accused of possession of child pornography as well as offenses related to the sexual abuse of minors during his time as papal nuncio to the Dominican Republic.

Before arriving in the Dominican Republic in 2008, Wesolowski was nuncio to Bolivia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. He began his career as a priest in Krakow, Poland, in 1972 and became a bishop in 2000.

In August 2013, the Vatican said it was investigating Wesolowski and removing him from his post, but it did not give a reason. Monsignor Agripino Nunez Collado, a Catholic University rector, said an internal church report linked Wesolowski to child abuse and pedophilia.

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