VATICAN CITY — The Vatican has told Polish prosecutors that its former ambassador to the Dominican Republic, under investigation for alleged sex abuse, is covered by diplomatic immunity and that the Vatican doesn't extradite its citizens.

The spokesman for Warsaw's provincial prosecutor's office, Przemyslaw Nowak, said prosecutors investigating Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski asked the Vatican for information about his legal status.

The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, confirmed Saturday that the Holy See's embassy in Warsaw responded to the request but stressed that the Polish were not seeking his extradition, merely his legal status. Lombardi said Wesolowski was being investigated by the Vatican for alleged canonical crimes and violations of the Vatican city state's criminal code.

Nowak said the Vatican confirmed it doesn't extradite its citizens, and that Wesolowski enjoyed full diplomatic immunity.