Vatican refuses to give UN panel full details of clerical sex abuse cases

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Vatican refuses to give UN panel full details of clerical sex abuse cases

Lizzy Davies in Rome
The Guardian, Wednesday 4 December 2013 19.29 GMT

The Vatican has refused to give a United Nations panel information it requested on clerical sex abuse, in a move that it said was part of its confidentiality policy but which was criticised as "a slap in the face" for victims.

In a series of questions asked in the runup to a public hearing scheduled for January, the UN committee on the rights of the child had requested the Holy See provide details of abuse cases and specific information concerning their subsequent investigation and handling.

But, in its response, the Holy See said that although it had answered the questions in a general way, it was not its practice to disclose information on specific cases unless requested to do so by another country as part of legal proceedings.

In the 24-page document, the Holy See said it had been "deeply saddened by the scourge of sexual abuse" and regretted the involvement of some members of the Catholic clergy.

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Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/04/vatican-refuses-un-panel-details-clerical-sex-abuse-cases

[edhopper]

1. Meet the new Boss

same as the old Boss.
Won't get fooled again.

[skepticscott]

2. Well, far be it from me to defend the Vatican

But I'm not sure what right or jurisdiction this UN committee has to request detailed information about specific cases of sexual abuse, especially when that information may include names of victims, or of the accused in ongoing investigations. Yes, the Catholic Church has been despicably negligent in not disclosing information about accusations of abuse to proper law enforcement agencies, but the UN committee on the rights of the child is not one, and it's unclear why they're entitled to more than the general information they were given.

[Heddi]

3. They're not trying to keep the names of the accusers secret

because they (the RCC and its apologists) have shown time and time again that they don't give a flying fuck about accusers of sexual abuse.

They will claim that it is to protect the names of those who have been accused of crimes, but not actually charged or found guilty.

Which is horseshit as well, as most of these monsters haven't been charged or found guilty because when the church found out about their crimes, evidence was destroyed, witnesses were intimidated and/or discredited, and the perpetrators moved to different locations where they had access to a whole new slew of children to torment with their sickness. Local police weren't notified of potential crimes. Criminals were given clear passage to move on and victimize more.

And when the RCC is called out on their awful behaviour, those that did the best hiding are given cushy positions in Rome (where they can't per prosecuted for their involvement in not only ignoring crimes against children, but aiding and abetting their perpetrators and allowing them to knowingly commit more crimes).

They don't give a shit about victims. They care about their moolah and their tarnished reputation.

The real reason they want this kept secret is because it won't just name the accusers. It won't just name the accused. It will name those who helped the accused get away with crimes. It will name those who moved those priests into new congregations, safe houses, etc. It will show the massive conspiracy the RCC engaged in to keep victims silent and to allow abusers to continue to abuse

[skepticscott]

4. No disputing any of that

But just because the RCC has been horribly wrong and immoral in concealing this information and has done so entirely out of self interest, it does not necessarily follow that it should be turned over to the UN. As noted, the committee requesting the information is not a law enforcement agency, and has no real jurisdiction here, and if I were one of the victims, I'm not at all sure that I'd want my information in those hands.

Put it down as a case of the Vatican doing the right thing for the wrong reasons.

[trotsky]

7. Yeah, hard to say.

But there is this:

The US-based Center for Constitutional Rights, which represents the Survivors' Network of Those Abused by Priests, said the response marked one of the Holy See's "most explicitly disingenuous and misleading positions on the issue to date".

If an organization representing victims is upset with this outcome, I'm more inclined to think this is just the Vatican being evil once again.

[skepticscott]

9. Well, SNAP is probably more than willing

to have the information go public any way possible. Understandable, due to their being frustrated at almost every turn by the RCC's legal maneuvering and dodging of proper legal authorities, but I still question whether it's in the best interest of the victims or that it properly protects the rights of the accused to have it disseminated in this particular way.

[trotsky]

6. "Criminals were given clear passage to move on and victimize more."

Related: an ongoing legal proceeding in Minnesota that I've posted about before turned up an interesting fact.

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2013/12/04/archdiocese-92-parishes-affected-by-credibly-accused-priests-to-be-named-thursday

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is preparing its priests for the release of a list of 29 priests who it says have been credibly accused of sexually abusing children.

The accused priests have served at nearly half -- 92 of the 188 -- of the parishes in the archdiocese, according to an email sent to priests today by Vicar General Charles Lachowitzer, the archbishop's top deputy.

Twenty-nine priests who potentially terrorized children at 92 parishes. Move on and victimize more. Vile and disgusting, and yet there are even those here at DU who seek to distract, minimize, and defend what happened. I've really lost the ability to engage with any of them.

[Warren Stupidity]

5. See, it's a new leaf they've turned, same as the old leaf.

I get down one my knees and pray
We won't get fooled again.

[rug]

8. Do you have the UN questionnaire?