Priests in defunct Catholic order in Italy accused of sexual abuse

FILE PHOTO: Statues on top the Bernini's colonnade and Saint Peter's Basilica are seen at sunset in Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican, January 13, 2020. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane/File Photo

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Nine members of a defunct, cult-like Roman Catholic religious order in Italy's Tuscany region are under investigation for alleged sexual abuse of two brothers when they were minors, authorities said on Wednesday.

The nine, including five priests and three other men, were members of a religious order called the Disciples of the Annunciation. Late last year the Vatican shut down the small order, which had several communities in Tuscany.