Posts Tagged United Nations
Vatican event calls for boosting women’s roles in the world and the Church / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Vatican, Voice of the Faithful, Women in Catholic Church on March 10, 2016
A recent Vatican conference heard strong calls for female empowerment in a world in which gender discrimination remains widespread, and in which, as one speaker put it, there are places where sexual violence and social bias is so pervasive that ‘it’s better to be a cow than a girl.’
“As part of that picture, speakers pressed the Catholic Church to live up to its own talk about the importance of women, moving from an ‘occasional’ to a ‘habitual’ commitment to seeing women in leadership positions, even if not as ordained priests.
“The gathering took place in the Casina Pio IV, home of the Pontifical Academy for Science, and marked the third consecutive year the Vatican staged an event in conjunction with the United Nations-sponsored International Women’s Day.
There were no Vatican officials in the lineup, but rather Catholic leaders and activists from around the world.”
By Ines San Martin, Cruxnow.com — Click here to read the rest of this story.
Second UN Panel Criticizes Vatican on Sex Abuse / The Boston Globe
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Clergy Sexual Abuse, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on May 23, 2014
For the second time, a United Nations panel has criticized the Vatican for its response to the child sexual abuse scandals in the Catholic Church, charging it with failing to mandate that abuse charges be reported to police, moving clergy to evade discipline, and failing to see that victims obtain adequate compensation.
“‘Clergy … were transferred to other dioceses and institutions where they remained in contact with minors and others who are vulnerable,’ the United Nations Committee against Torture charged in a new report, ‘and in some cases committed abuse in their subsequent placements.’
“The report follows a similar indictment from the Committee on the Rights of the Child that appeared in February, which asserted that the Vatican had fostered ‘impunity’ for abusers.”
By John L. Allen, Jr., The Boston Globe — Click here to read the rest of this story.
U.N. Panel on Torture Presses Vatican Envoy on Abuse / The New York Times
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Clergy Sexual Abuse, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on May 6, 2014
The Vatican faced sharp questioning by a United Nations panel on Monday (May 5) about whether it failed to abide by an international treaty against torture in its response to the sexual abuse of children by priests.
“In the hearing, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Vatican’s representative in Geneva, immediately found himself at odds with members of the panel, the Committee Against Torture, over the Holy See’s view that it is responsible for applying the treaty only to the few hundred inhabitants of the Vatican City state.”
By Nick Cumming Bruce, The New York Times — Click here to read the rest of this story.
The Fight to Reveal Abuses by Catholic Priests / The New York Times
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Catholic Bishops, Clergy Sexual Abuse, Clericalism, Voice of the Faithful on March 31, 2014
Cardinal Edward M. Egan, the former Roman Catholic archbishop of New York, is in no way the principal face of the sexual abuse scandals that have buffeted the church and its priesthood almost without pause for three decades. But he embodies a certain mind-set among some in the highest clerical ranks. It is an attitude that has led critics, who of late include the authors of a scathing United Nations committee report, to wonder about the depth of the church’s commitment to atone for past predations and to ensure that those sins of the fathers are visited on no one else.
By Clyde Haberman, The New York Times — Click here to read the rest of this story and click here to watch the companion video “The Shame of the Church,” part of a documentary series called the “Retro Report” that is presented by The New York Times.
UN Report on Clergy Sexual Abuse: By Wading into Culture Wars, UN May Muddy Its Message / The Boston Gobe
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Clergy Sexual Abuse, Voice of the Faithful on February 6, 2014
Because the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child has no police power, it relies on moral pressure to get member states to adopt its child protection recommendations. That is obviously what it hoped to accomplish with Wednesday’s report on the Vatican and the child abuse scandals that have rocked Catholicism over the last dozen years, issuing a stinging indictment of what it called a culture of “impunity” for perpetrators. There is a strong possibility the fusillade from the UN panel may backfire, however, by blurring the cause of child protection with the culture wars over sexual mores.” By John L. Allen, Jr., The Boston Globe — Click here to read the rest of this analysis.
Also of interest — “UN Panel Assails Vatican on Priest Abuse,” by Michael Rezendes and Lisa Wangsness, The Boston Globe
UN Sex Abuse Report Holds Bishops Accountable / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Catholic Bishops, Clergy Sexual Abuse, Clericalism, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on February 5, 2014
In an unprecedented report critical of the Catholic church’s handling of the clergy sexual abuse scandal, the United Nations demanded Wednesday (Feb. 5) the Vatican immediately remove all clergy known or suspected to be child abusers, turn them over to civil authorities, and hold ‘those who concealed their crimes’ accountable.
“The report by the U.N. watchdog for children’s rights targets bishops for enabling the abuse over decades. Church child sex abuse watchdogs maintain many hundreds of bishops have enabled and covered up abuse but have never been held accountable by authorities inside or outside the church.
“The UN report called on the Vatican to turn over tens of thousands of potentially incriminating documents held in its archives, according to various news reports.”
By Thomas C. Fox, National Catholic Reporter — Click here to read the rest of this article.
Voice of the Faithful® has always advocated for accountability for bishops who covered up the crimes of clergy sexual abuse, enabling those crimes to continue to be perpetrated for many years. The U.N. is now saying what we and other victims’ rights groups worldwide have always insisted. Under Pope Francis, we hope that such accountability will become standard, rather than the grievous omission it now is. We must point out, as well, that some will use the “telling the Church what to do” argument to downplay the entire U.N. report, including and especially the part about clergy sexual abuse.
Also of interest:
- U.N. Blasts Vatican on Sex Abuse
- U.N. Panel Assails Vatican Over Sexual Abuse by Priests
- Vatican Press Office Response to U.N. Report on Clergy Sexual Abuse
- Full U.N. Report — Concluding Observations on the Second Periodic Report of the Holy See
- U.N. Panel Blasts Vatican Handling of Clergy Sexual Abuse, Church Teachings on Gays, Abortion
Church Wants to Model ‘Best Practice’ on Fighting Abuse, Vatican Says at U.N. Committee Hearings / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Clergy Sexual Abuse, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on January 16, 2014
Facing a virtually unprecedented examination of its record on child sexual abuse by a U.N. panel, a senior Vatican official today asserted that the Catholic church wants to be “an example of best practice” in the prevention of abuse.
“Italian Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Vatican’s representative to the United Nations in Geneva, spoke this morning to the Committee on the Convention of the Rights of the Child, a 1989 United Nations treaty which the Vatican ratified in 1990.
“Although the U.N. panel has no power to compel the Vatican to do anything, its body of experts is expected to make recommendations after the day-long hearing. In effect, today marks the first time senior Vatican officials have appeared before an independent body to defend the church’s handling of the abuse scandals that have erupted over the past decade.”
By John L. Allen, Jr., National Catholic Reporter — Click here to read the rest of Allen’s article. Allen will be a guest speaker during the Voice of the Faithful® 2014 Assembly:Turning Talk into Action to be held in Hartford, Connecticut, Apr. 5, 2014. Click here for information.
Vatican Comes Under Sharp Criticism for Sex Abuse / Associated Press
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Clergy Sexual Abuse, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on January 16, 2014
The Vatican came under blistering criticism from a U.N. committee Thursday (Jan. 16) for its handling of the global priest sex abuse scandal, facing its most intense public grilling to date over allegations that it protected pedophile priests at the expense of victims. The Vatican insisted it had little jurisdiction to sanction pedophile priests around the globe, saying it was for local law enforcement to do so. But officials conceded that it needs to do more, given the scale of the problem and the role the Holy See plays in the international community.” By John Heilprin and Nicole Winfield, Associated Press — Click here the read the rest of this story.
Vatican Facing UN Showdown on Sex Abuse Record / Associated Press
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Clergy Sexual Abuse, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on January 15, 2014
The Vatican is gearing up for a bruising showdown over the global priest sex abuse scandal, forced for the first time to defend itself at length and in public against allegations it enabled the rape of thousands of children by protecting pedophile priests and its own reputation at the expense of victims. The Holy See on Thursday (Jan. 16) will be grilled by a U.N. committee in Geneva on its implementation of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child. Among other things, the treaty calls for signatories to take all appropriate measures to protect children from harm and to put children’s interests above all else.” By Nicole Winfield and John Heilprin, Associated Press — Click here to read the rest of this article.
Vatican Refuses to Share Sex Abuse Investigations with U.N. Panel / Reuters
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Clergy Sexual Abuse, Pope Francis, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on December 4, 2013
Editor’s Note: An earlier post on this topic has been taken down because a link in the post became corrupted.
The Vatican refused to provide a United Nations rights panel with information on the Church’s internal investigations into the sexual abuse of children by clergy, saying on Tuesday (Dec. 3) that its policy was to keep such cases confidential.” By Naomi O’Leary, Reuters — Click here, to read the rest of this story.
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