Vatican to be pressed for confidential records on clerical child sex abuse

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

Vatican to be pressed for confidential records on clerical child sex abuse

Owen Bowcott
The Guardian, Tuesday 9 July 2013 19.12 BST

The Vatican is to face tough questioning by a United Nations committee over the Catholic church's record in tackling child sexual abuse by its clergy around the world.

A detailed "list of issues" has been released by the Geneva-based Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) before the appearance of officials from the Holy See. The session is expected early next year.

The decision to ask senior Roman Catholic clerics to hand over confidential internal documents to such a high-profile inquiry marks a fresh initiative in the global debate over clerical abuse. It will present the new pontiff, Pope Francis, with a direct challenge to provide records of financial compensation given to victims of sexual abuse and disclose whether secret deals were made to preserve the church's reputation.

The UN committee's document is headed: "List of issues to be taken up in connection with the consideration of the second periodic report of the Holy See." Paragraph 11 of the CRC's document states: "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."

[font size=1]-snip-[/font]

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/09/vatican-confidential-records-clerical-child-sex-abuse

[cbayer]

1. I can't see how anything can be considered confidential at this point.

I hope that the pope complies with this. They need to fully face justice, take their punishment and resolve any outstanding issues.

[skepticscott]

2. You're really serious, aren't you?

You can really post that without bursting into peals of laughter, like I did when I read it?

[hrmjustin]

3. Yes she can!

[rug]

4. It will be interesting to see how Francis responds.