Mixed Reviews on U.n.’s Anti-torture Report on Vatican

By Meredith Somers
Washington Times
May 26, 2014

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/may/26/mixed-reviews-on-uns-anti-torture-report-on-vatica/?page=2

In February, the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child blasted the Holy See’s handling of the sex abuse scandal, and suggested that the Catholic Church revise its canon to approve homosexuality, abortion, birth control and premarital sex.

The U.N. Committee Against Torture applauded Pope Francis for several steps taken under his papacy, including the creation of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, and a statement he made last month that the church would “not take one step backward” with regards to dealing with the sex abuse cases.

According to the Central Office of Church Statistics in the Vatican Secretariat of State, the church has more than 400,000 priests and 5,000 bishops serving its 1.2 billion followers worldwide.

Archbishop Tomasi said during his appearance before the committee earlier this month that the Holy See had defrocked 848 priests and slapped 2,572 clergy members with lesser sanctions in the last 10 years.

The Holy See has until May 23, 2015, to submit to the committee a list of issues it plans to addressing at its next report in 2018.