UNITED KINGDOM
Metro
Graeme Green Monday 6 Jan 2014
A few weeks ago, Pope Francis delivered his first ever Christmas Day speech to thousands of followers in St Peter’s Square.
He highlighted the lives ‘shattered’ in Syria, Iraq and the Israel-Palestine conflict and called for an end to ‘further suffering’. But simply wishing for ‘world peace’ is for Miss World contestants; the leader of one of the world’s wealthiest and most influential bodies has the power to make real change.
On January 16, a Vatican delegation is due to appear before the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child at a hearing in Geneva as part of an investigation into allegations of child sexual abuse by Catholic clergy around the world and an alleged system of cover-ups by the Holy See. Pope Francis and the Catholic Church have a clear opportunity to help victims whose lives have been ‘shattered’ by child abuse and help prevent ‘further suffering’, campaigners say.
‘This is the first time the Holy See’s been pressed on child sexual abuse by the world’s children’s rights body and that’s of international significance,’ said Veronica Yates, director of Child Rights International Network (CRIN). ‘We know child abuse happens in other closed institutions, but what’s unique about the Catholic Church is the Holy See is a UN State that’s voluntarily signed up to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, a legally binding document that includes, among others, a child’s right to protection from violence and sexual abuse.’
She added: ‘Child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church is a global problem affecting thousands of children. Some of the “techniques” employed by the church indicate its disregard for children’s rights and the law. An example is the “geographical cure”, designed to relocate, forget and sweep under the rug cases of child abuse to protect the institution. There are numerous examples of priests accused of abuse being transferred, usually from Europe or North America to Africa or Latin America. The Holy See’s given no indication these practices have stopped.’
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