Un Says Vatican Complicit in Sex Scandals, Demands Inquiry

London South East
February 5, 2014

http://www.lse.co.uk/AllNews.asp?code=tdljpevx&headline=UN_says_Vatican_complicit_in_sex_scandals_demands_inquiry

Geneva (Alliance News) - The Holy See's handling of sex abuse cases has allowed perpetrators in the church to continue their crimes, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child charged Wednesday.

"The committee is gravely concerned that the Holy See has not acknowledged the extent of the crimes committed, has not taken the necessary measures to address cases of child sexual abuse and to protect children, and has adopted policies and practices which have led to the continuation of the abuse," the UN panel of experts said.

It pointed to the practice of transferring alleged perpetrators to other parishes and a lack of cooperation with national legal authorities.

The Geneva-based committee criticized the Vatican for a lack of transparency in dealing with abuse cases and said in a list of recommendations it made to the Vatican that the findings of the Holy See's commission on sex crimes, which was set up in December, should be made public.

It also said the Vatican should unseal archives on abusers and on those who protected them within the church and it should involve victims groups and international human rights institutions in the work of its commission.

"The Holy See has consistently placed the preservation of the reputation of the church and the protection of the perpetrators above children's best interests," committee chairwoman Kirsten Sandberg said.

The commission also asked the church to immediately remove known and alleged abusers from their posts and to protect and compensate victims.

In its reaction to the report, the Vatican accused the UN experts of meddling with the teachings of the Catholic Church.

"The Holy See does ... regret to see in some points of the concluding observations an attempt to interfere with Catholic Church teaching on the dignity of human person and in the exercise of religious freedom," the Vatican said in a statement while adding it is committed to "defending and protecting the rights of the child."

Its ambassador to the United Nations said the world body had produced an "ideological" report influenced by gay groups.

"Non-governmental organizations that are interested in homosexuality, gay marriage and other questions have certainly presented their views and, in some way, they strengthened an ideological line," Archbishop Silvano Tomasi said on Vatican Radio.

The UN recommendations were issued after a hearing last month, in which senior Vatican envoys had pointed to a number of new policies that the Catholic Church has adopted since a stream of abuse case started coming to light in recent years.

The UN experts said the Canon Law of the Catholic Church is not in line with the international Convention on the Rights of the Child when it comes to protecting children against exploitation and sexual abuse and said the law should be changed.

At the same time, they commended the Vatican for several steps, including amending its criminal code and its new policy of cooperating with national prosecution authorities, even though it called for clearer rules on reporting such crimes.

Only last week, the Italian bishops conference said there was no obligation for bishops to report suspected abusers to police.

A victims group called the UN report "a wake up call" for civilian law enforcement authorities to go after paedophile priests.

"Now it's up to secular officials to follow the UN's lead and step in to safeguard the vulnerable because Catholic officials are either incapable or unwilling to do so," said Barbara Blaine, president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

She expressed doubts about whether the church will change.

"The quickest way to prevent child sexual violence by Catholic clerics is for Pope Francis to publicly remove all offenders from ministry and harshly punish their colleagues and supervisors who enabled their crimes. But like his predecessors, he has refused to take even tiny steps in this direction," Blaine said.

Besides making recommendations on dealing with sexual abuse, the UN committee said it was deeply concerned about thousands of babies who were taken from their mothers by Catholic institutions and placed for adoption in countries like Ireland and Spain.

The UN panel urged the Holy See to start an internal investigation on the matter.