VATICAN – When presented with an accusation that a priest has sexually abused a child, "whether it's criminal or malicious complicity and a code of silence or whether it is denial" on a very human level, such reactions are no longer tolerable, said the Vatican's top investigator of abuse cases.

The much-anticipated Vatican summit on clerical sexual abuse of minors is still days away but perhaps the strongest declaration to be expected from this unprecedented gathering of bishops has already been made.