The Vatican's former ambassador to France is going on trial over alleged sexual misconduct.

A number of men have accused Archbishop Luigi Ventura of groping and inappropriate touching.

Exceptionally, the Vatican last year lifted the ambassador's diplomatic immunity, allowing for his trial in France and for the allegations to be properly investigated.

Ventura has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

The Vatican recalled Ventura last year and he later retired. It has previously recalled its diplomats when they get into trouble during overseas postings, as is common for governments with diplomats serving abroad.

Ventura's trial comes the same day that the Vatican is releasing a much-awaited report into Theodore McCarrick, a once-influential American cardinal who was defrocked by Pope Francis in 2019 after a Vatican investigation confirmed decades of rumours that he was a sexual predator.