Luigi Ventura (born 9 December 1944) is an Italian prelate of the Catholic Church who worked in the diplomatic service of the Holy See, ending his career as Apostolic Nuncio to France from 2009 to 2019.

[8][9] A verdict was handed down on 16 December 2020,[10][11][12] which resulted in Ventura receiving an eight-month suspended prison sentence which includes fines and probation.

[16] On 25 March 1995, Pope John Paul II appointed him titular archbishop of Equilium and apostolic nuncio to the Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Niger.

In January 2019 the French authorities opened an investigation into Ventura after a junior official at Paris City Hall accused him of molestation.

[23] On 15 February 2019, Le Monde reported that a young male employed by the office of the mayor of Paris had filed a complaint for sexual assault against Ventura and that authorities had launched a formal inquiry in January.

[30][31] Vachon said Ventura's successor as Nuncio to Canada, Archbishop Luigi Bonazzi, called him the day he registered his complaint to discuss it.

[33] On 8 July a Vatican spokesperson said the Holy See had informed French authorities a week earlier that it was waiving Ventura's diplomatic immunity.

[5][38] Pablo Larrain's film El Club also accused Ventura of covering up sexual violence in Chile when he served as apostolic nuncio to the country.

[6][5] Ventura's lawyer stated that the former nuncio agreed to return to Paris and make in-person court appearances during his trial.

[39] On the scheduled date of 16 December 2020, a Paris court convicted Ventura and handed an eight-month suspended prison sentence.