ARGENTINA: Argentines react to scathing U.N. report demanding Vatican act against child sex abuse

Record ID: 447716

  • Title: ARGENTINA: Argentines react to scathing U.N. report demanding Vatican act against child sex abuse
  • Date: 6th February 2014
  • Summary: BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA (FILE) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SENTENCING ARGENTINE PRIEST JULIO GRASSI THE SEXUAL ABUSE OF MINORS IN ARGENTINA CROSS ON WALL
  • Embargoed: 21st February 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Brazil
  • Country: Brazil
  • Topics: Religion
  • Reuters ID: LVAENE3AXOWWQ1M5BV9BAO6EGKQH
  • Story Text: The United Nations on Wednesday (February 5) accused the Vatican of systematically turning a blind eye to decades of sexual abuse of children by priests, and demanded it immediately turn over known or suspected offenders to civil justice.
    In a scathingly blunt report, the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child said Church officials had imposed a "code of silence" on clerics and moved abusers from parish to parish "in an attempt to cover up such crimes".
    The Vatican called the report "distorted" and "unfair" and said the United Nations had ignored steps taken in the past decade to protect children.
    In Pope Francis' home country of Argentina, Children's rights groups welcomed the U.N. report.
    "This is not something against the church, it is in favour of the church so that the church can be cleansed of these characters continue with its task of accompanying the faithful. I believe this is the attitude that they should take and I believe that Pope Francis has the conditions and possibilities to lead the way," said Nora Schulman, the Executive Director of the Argentine Committee for the Monitoring and Implementation of the International Convention on Rights of the Child (CASASIDN).
    The U.N. report also lays out a fresh challenge for a commission named by Pope Francis in December to advise him on a scandal that has plagued the Church for decades.
    The committee said it was "gravely concerned that the Holy See has not acknowledged the extent of the crimes committed, has not taken the necessary measures to address cases of child sexual abuse and to protect children, and has adopted policies and practices which have led to the continuation of the abuse by and the impunity of the perpetrators".
    It urged the Vatican to "immediately remove all known and suspected child sexual abusers from assignment and refer the matter to the relevant law enforcement authorities for investigation and prosecution purposes".
    The Vatican initially planned a muted response, according to a person familiar with the matter, but raised its tone, after much debate, in response to the report's demands that the Catholic Church scale back its opposition to abortion, artificial contraception and homosexuality.
    Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, who is the head of the Vatican delegation to U.N. organisations in Geneva, accused the committee of interfering in religious freedom by trying to dictate the church's moral teachings.
    Tomasi said non-governmental organisations favouring gay marriage - which the Church opposes - probably influenced the U.N. committee to reinforce what he called "an ideological line".
    The President of the Argentine Homosexual Community, Cesar Cigliutti, said these claim by the Vatican were irrelevant to the finding of the report.
    "Suppose this was true, that yes, that it was because of the lobbying of the gay and lesbian organisations at the United Nations, in reality what does this change? Is there less abuse of children? Is the policy of the Vatican any different?" said Cigliutti.
    The committee said the Holy See must hand over an archive of evidence about the abuse of tens of thousands of children and take measures to prevent a repeat of cases such as the scandal of Ireland's Magdalene Laundries, where girls were forced to work in church-run institutions.
    Pope Francis, in office for only 11 months, has called sexual abuse of children "the shame of the Church" and has vowed to continue procedures put in place by his predecessor, Benedict XVI.
    But the report expressed "serious concern that in dealing with child victims of different forms of abuse, the Holy See has systematically placed preservation of the reputation of the Church and the alleged offender over the protection of child victims".
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