The U.N. can’t point fingers when it comes to sexual misconduct: James Varney

UNITED STATES
The Times-Picayune

By James Varney, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
on May 05, 2014

The widespread sexual abuse of boys by Roman Catholic priests is one of those astounding stories, an injustice so monstrous and rooted in a network so rich and deep it would seem confined to Hollywood screenwriters. It’s all too real, though, and horrible.

The light that has been shone on the church in terms of what it knew and tolerated for decades, along with steps it took to bury accusers and escape judgment for its crimes, has been a good thing. Perhaps the only troubling aspect of it is how much the spotlight has been focused on the United States.

This isn’t an American problem; this is a Roman Catholic Church problem, and Rome and its officers are a global presence.

Nevertheless, if there were one entity singularly unqualified to investigate the Church’s sexual abuse problems it would be the United Nations. Not only because the U.N. is such an intellectually dishonest and government-scrubbing, self-aggrandizing collection of arrogant diplomats, but because when it comes to sex crimes the U.N. itself is a major perpetrator.

Monday in Geneva, the U.N. Committee Against Torture is essentially putting the Vatican in the dock, barely three months after the U.N.’s Committee on the Rights of the Child scored the Roman Catholic Church for its sexual abuse scandal and its handling of the tragic, criminal behavior.

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.