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Vatican ducks questions from UN on the worldwide child abuse in Catholic institutions

News release

Vatican ducks questions from UN on the worldwide child abuse in Catholic institutions

The Vatican has failed to answer detailed questions by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child on cases of child sexual abuse committed by members of the clergy, brothers or nuns or brought to the attention of the Holy See. These formal questions were raised as part of the review of the reports the UN Committee require states that have ratified the Convention of the Rights of the Child to provide every five years.

In a formal response to the UN Committee's 'list of issues' or questions, the Holy See based its failure to answer them on the legal technicality that it is "related but separate and distinct from the Catholic Church". It added: "it is not the practice of the Holy See to disclose information on the religious discipline of members of the clergy or religious according to canon law, unless there is a related matter concerning international judicial cooperation with a State and the request by the State is made, generally, through specific procedures".

The UN Committee prefaced its questions by pointing to "the recognition by the Holy See of sexual violence against children committed by members of the clergy, brothers and nuns in numerous countries around the world, and given the scale of the abuses".

Keith Porteous Wood of the (UK) National Secular Society, which, together with victims groups, has submitted evidence about such abuse to the Committee earlier this year commented: "Under the direct control of the Pope, the Church operates a firm 'command and control structure' over the worldwide Church, particularly over the handling of clerical rape and sexual violence offences. It requires that it is sent all records of the tens of thousands of these criminal offences, and secretes them centrally.

"The huge scale of rape and sexual violence in Catholic institutions worldwide over the last 50 years is a matter of public record, and more is still regularly being reported. The Holy See's and the Church's culpability lies in the fact that, that scale of abuse would have been hugely reduced had those in the Church been required to invariably report credible allegations and suspicions to civil authorities. Instead, there is evidence that in many cases abusers were moved by the Church to other locations where they frequently resumed their sexual violence that has ruined so many lives.

"The Holy See's brazen failure, on arcane legal technicalities, to provide the information sought by the Committee is a new low point in the Church's lamentable record over child abuse.

"Many will be disappointed and surprised by this slap in the face to both the tens if not hundreds of thousands of suffering victims and to a United Nations body.

"The Holy See, under the Pope, uses its considerable diplomatic might to promote the doctrines and the self-interest of the Catholic Church and clearly commands and controls child abuse policy in the Church worldwide, including through its own (canon) "law". It is both shameless and unacceptable for it to undermine the UN's efforts, made in the interest of protecting past and future victims, by refusing to provide the information that the UN seeks.

For more information please contact:

Keith Porteous Wood, executive director, National Secular Society

07810 224380 and 020 8997 8371 and 020 7404 3126.

Note for Editors

The Holy See's earlier report to the Committee is here.

This gave rise to the Committee's "List of Issues" (questions), which can be found here. The principal one, Question 11, is pasted below

The Holy See's response to the questions (same link as included in news release).

Question 11

In the light of the recognition by the Holy See of sexual violence against children committed by members of the clergy, brothers and nuns in numerous countries around the world, and given the scale of the abuses, please provide detailed information on all cases of child sexual abuse committed by members of the clergy, brothers and nuns or brought to the attention of the Holy See over the reporting period. For all these cases, please provide detailed information on:

a) a) The measures in place to ensure that no member of the clergy currently accused of sexual abuse be allowed to remain in contact with children as well as the specific cases where immediate measures were taken to prevent them from being in continued contact with children as well as the cases where priests were transferred to other parishes or to other States where they continued to have access to and abuse children;

b) The explicit instructions given at all levels of the clergy to ensure the compulsory reporting to national competent authorities of all cases of sexual abuse and on the cases where instructions were given not to report such offences, and at which level of the clergy;

c) The type of support and protection provided by the Holy See to child victims of sexual abuse party testifying against their sexual abusers and the cases where children were silenced in order to minimize the risk of public disclosure;

d) The investigations and legal proceedings conducted under penal canon law against perpetrators of sexual crimes and their outcome as well as the cooperation provided by the State party proceedings engaged in countries where the abuses were committed;

e) The number of child victims who have been given assistance for recovery, including psychological support and social reintegration and have received financial compensation. With reference to paragraph 98 of the Holy See's report, please clarify whether the confidentiality of the proceedings were imposed on child victims as a condition precedent of financial compensation; and

f) The measures undertaken to prevent further sexual violence from taking place in institutions run by the Catholic Church and to provide information on prevention to children and their families.

About the National Secular Society

The National Secular Society (NSS) campaigns for the separation of religion and state and promotes secularism as the best means to create a society in which people of all religions or none can live together fairly and cohesively. The NSS sees secularism – the position that the state should be separate from religion – as an essential element in promoting equality between all citizens. A non-party political organisation, the society works in the UK and Europe to challenge the disproportionate influence of religion on governments and in public life.

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