The Newstalk
September 13, 2011
http://www.newstalk.ie/2011/news/papers-filed-alleging-crimes-against-humanity-by-pope-benedict/
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The Pope and three top Vatican officials have been accused of crimes against humanity in a formal declaration lodged with the International Criminal Court (ICC).
A group representing survivors of clerical sexual abuse has alleged Pope Benedict XVI and the officials “tolerated and enabled the systematic and widespread concealing of rape and child sex crimes.
The New York-based rights group Centre for Constitutional Rights and the group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) lodged the papers with the ICC in the Hague today.
In a statement SNAP said members from Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and the US had traveled to The Hague with human rights lawyers to urge prosecutors to investigate the Pope and 3 other high-ranking Vatican officials.
The US-based group also submitted more than 20,000 pages of supporting materials including “reports, policy papers, and evidence of the crimes by Catholic clergy committed against children and vulnerable adults” it said.
However it is not clear if the the ICC will take on the case as it lacks jurisdiction over the Vatican.
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