Subscribe to this RSS feed
May 22, 2014

UN board urges Vatican to punish bishops who mishandle abuse claims

Archbishop Silvano Tomasi had tried to explain to the committee that the Holy See had direct juridical control only over Vatican City State, its citizens and employees, but not over all bishops and priests around the world. The UN Committee Against Torture urged the Vatican to impose "meaningful sanctions" on any Church authority who fails to follow Church law in dealing with allegations of sexual abuse.

VATICAN CITY - The UN Committee Against Torture urged the Vatican to impose "meaningful sanctions" on any Church authority who fails to follow Church law in dealing with allegations of sexual abuse and asked that Church officials worldwide be required to report abuse allegations to local police.

Published in International
May 5, 2014

Vatican official says church making progress in stopping sexual abuse

Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Holy See representative to U.N. agencies in Geneva, told the Committee Against Torture May 6 that the sexual abuse of children "is a worldwide plague and scourge" that the Vatican, national bishops' conferences, religious orders and individual dioceses have worked seriously to eliminate within the Catholic Church.

VATICAN CITY - Appearing before a U.N. committee monitoring adherence to an international treaty designed to fight torture, a Vatican official insisted that, over the past 10 years, the Catholic Church has "in a systematic, constructive and effective way," worked to prevent clerical sexual abuse of minors and assist victims.

Published in Vatican