PARIS — The Paris prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into alleged ‘‘sexual aggression’’ by Catholic archbishop Luigi Ventura, the Vatican’s envoy to France, according to French officials.

Confirming a report published by Le Monde newspaper on Friday, a judicial official and a spokesman at the Paris mayor’s office said the police investigation targeting the apostolic nuncio came after a young male city employee claimed he was sexually molested inside the French capital’s town hall.

Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to be named in the media.

The Vatican said it learned of the investigation from media reports, adding that ‘‘the Holy See is awaiting the conclusions of the inquiry.’’

Ventura, who has held the post within the Holy See’s global diplomatic corps since 2009, is suspected of having groped the buttocks of a young male at the Paris City Hall three times during a ceremony on Jan. 17.

Paris City Hall’s press office said that the victim is a man in his 30s working for the town hall’s international relations department. He was in charge of welcoming guests at the ceremony.

‘‘He caressed and fondled his buttocks several times in front of witnesses,’’ said a spokesman at the City Hall. ‘‘Our employee was very surprised and did not know what to do.’’

According to the spokesman, Ventura touched the employee three times over a period of about an hour before the young man left the ceremony after reporting the incidents to his superiors.

Ventura is the third Vatican diplomat accused of sexual wrongdoing. In June last year, the Vatican tribunal convicted Monsignor Carlo Capella of possession and distribution of child pornography and sentenced him to five years in prison.

Associated Press