UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter
NCR Editorial Staff | Feb. 27, 2014
EDITORIAL
The U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child issued a report in early February that chastised the Vatican for substandard policies that fall short in protecting children, specifically from sexual abuse.
The condemnation came from a committee of 18 independent experts who monitor the implementation of the 1989 U.N. treaty — ratified by the Holy See in 1990 — related to child protection and children’s rights. Among the committee’s chief criticisms are that the Vatican “has not acknowledged the extent of the crimes committed,” that its systems and procedures are shrouded in secrecy that shields the abusers and denies justice to victims, and that the church’s global network has been used to hide perpetrators and obstruct investigations.
Critics have faulted the U.N. report for not keeping its focus on the sexual abuse of minors and instead also criticizing Vatican policies (we would call them teachings) on abortion, birth control, homosexuality and even corporal punishment. Bringing up these issues — which the committee may not have been able to avoid because of its wider mandate — made the report too easy to dismiss by the very people it should have roused to action. It also focused too much on the historical record and ignored some recent progress the Vatican has made. Because of this, the report comes off as dated, giving critics more ammunition to dismiss it. A more politically savvy report could have had greater impact. Commentators even on the NCR website called the report poorly done, sloppily executed and an opportunity squandered.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.