An Italian journalist who says he helped a former Vatican diplomat pen his bombshell allegation of sex abuse cover-up against Pope Francis says he persuaded the archbishop to go public after the U.S. church was thrown into turmoil by sex abuse revelations in the Pennsylvania grand jury report.
Marco Tosatti said he helped Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano write and edit his 11-page testimony, saying the two sat side-by-side at a wooden table in Tosatti's living room for three hours on Aug. 22.
Tosatti told The Associated Press that Vigano, a previous acquaintance, had called him a few weeks ago asking to meet.
He then proceeded to tell Tosatti the stories that became the basis of his testimony against the pope.
Vigano's allegations, and his call for Francis to resign over them, have thrown the pope's 5-year papacy into crisis. Monsignor Anthony Figueiredo, a CBS News consultant on the Catholic Church, told CBS News correspondent Seth Doane this week that the allegation "is like an earthquake for the Church."
When asked about Archbishop Vigano's reputation, Figueiredo said he knows him "personally."
"I know him as a man of great integrity, honest to the core. He's worked for three different popes, and (was) sent to a Vatican position, a diplomatic position as big as the United States, which means he's a trusted man," said Figueiredo.
CBS News has spoken with Vigano to confirm he stands by his letter. As of Monday, two prominent U.S. cardinals had disputed some of Vigano's claims, while a Vatican official who worked with Vigano has reportedly also questioned the letter's accuracy.
Two U.S. bishops have called for an investigation.
Pope Francis himself has thus far refused to respond to the accusations that he knew about alleged sex abuse by a former cardinal, and allowed him to serve unpunished.