A UN watchdog urged the Vatican on Friday to live up to Pope Francis' vow to stamp out child sex abuse by priests, calling on the Church to ensure violators face justice.
Three weeks after grilling the Vatican at a public hearing, the UN Committee Against Torture said the Roman Catholic Church had made progress, but said there are still failings of major concern.
The committee oversees the implementation of a UN convention which bans torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.
The Vatican signed it in 2002 but the watchdog urged The Church to take "effective measures" to monitor the behaviour of clergy and lay personnel.
It also said all Holy See officials must "stop and sanction" abuse if made aware of alleged violations.
In a report, the commission said alleged abusers should be suspended immediately pending investigation to reduce the risk of fresh abuse or intimidation of victims.
It also called for efforts to prevent the transfer to other parishes, whether at home or abroad, of clergy accused of abuse, saying it raised the risk of cover-ups.
Any individual found guilty should be dismissed from the priesthood, and anyone in the Church hierarchy failing to react to abuse claims should face "meaningful sanctions", it said.
Finally, it also urged the Church to ensure that abuse claims were reported to national police.
- 'Part of the past' -
In a statement, the Vatican acknowledged that the committee accused it of failing to make police reporting mandatory, of "moving clergy to evade discipline and failing to see that victims obtain adequate compensation."
Insisting that such practices were "part of the past", it said it would give the recommendations "serious consideration."
It also claimed the committee had not accused it of violating the UN convention, although the committee's deputy chairwoman Felice Gaer, an American human rights expert, shot that down.
"When the committee addresses a problem and makes a recommendation, it sees the state as not meeting the requirements of the convention," she said.
During the hearing earlier this month, Vatican officials revealed that 3,420 abuse cases had been handled over the past decade by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, its prosecuting arm, mostly over offences from the 1950s to 1980s.
Of those, 848 priests were expelled from the priesthood, while a further 2,572 were ordered to "live a life of prayer or penance", for example in a monastery.
But the committee complained of a dearth of data on abusers reported to police.
The Vatican, which counted 414,313 priests as members of the Church worldwide in 2012, said it "condemns sex abuse as a serious crime and a grave violation of human dignity", but said calling rape and abuse a breach of the convention was "fundamentally flawed".
But the committee's Chilean chairman, Claudio Grossman, said that assessment was misplaced.
"We're not saying that any sexual abuse is equivalent to a form of torture. We need to see the circumstances. The issue here is the responsiblity of a state," he said.
"A responsiblity of a state comes into play if there was no prevention or there was no investigation and punishment."
- Series of scandals -
The Church has faced a decade-long series of scandals over abuse by priests and lay officials, from Ireland to the United States and Australia.
Benedict XVI, pontiff from 2005 to 2013, was the first pope to apologise to victims and to call for zero tolerance.
His successor Pope Francis has stepped up efforts, revising Church laws and creating a Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors involving victims, to develop tougher ways to protect children and increase accountability.
The UN committee said that was a welcome move demonstrating his concern about abuse although it said the body's remit and powers were still unclear.
But the recognition of the Commission's work still pleased pro-Vatican groups.
"It is encouraging to see the Committee Against Torture affirm and praise the important reforms the Church has put into place to protect children and its ongoing commitment to those reforms," said Ashley McGuire of Catholic Voices.
The Holy See insists the UN convention applies only to the territory of Vatican City and to its envoys abroad, and that it cannot be blamed for the behaviour of individual priests.
But Gaer rejected that.
"We're not suggesting that the Holy See is responsible for the actions of every Catholic. But the officials of the Holy See do exercise control over a significant range of conduct that takes place outside the four corners of Vatican City," she said.
Victims' groups hailed the report.
"For too long, the Vatican has been able to deny and deflect attention from its role in enabling, perpetuating, and covering-up these serious crimes around the globe," said Barbara Blaine, head of the Survivors' Network of those Abused by Priests.
A UN watchdog urged the Vatican on Friday to live up to Pope Francis’ vow to stamp out child sex abuse by priests, calling on the Church to ensure violators face justice.
Three weeks after grilling the Vatican at a public hearing, the UN Committee Against Torture said the Roman Catholic Church had made progress, but said there are still failings of major concern.
The committee oversees the implementation of a UN convention which bans torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.
The Vatican signed it in 2002 but the watchdog urged The Church to take “effective measures” to monitor the behaviour of clergy and lay personnel.
It also said all Holy See officials must “stop and sanction” abuse if made aware of alleged violations.
In a report, the commission said alleged abusers should be suspended immediately pending investigation to reduce the risk of fresh abuse or intimidation of victims.
It also called for efforts to prevent the transfer to other parishes, whether at home or abroad, of clergy accused of abuse, saying it raised the risk of cover-ups.
Any individual found guilty should be dismissed from the priesthood, and anyone in the Church hierarchy failing to react to abuse claims should face “meaningful sanctions”, it said.
Finally, it also urged the Church to ensure that abuse claims were reported to national police.
– ‘Part of the past’ –
In a statement, the Vatican acknowledged that the committee accused it of failing to make police reporting mandatory, of “moving clergy to evade discipline and failing to see that victims obtain adequate compensation.”
Insisting that such practices were “part of the past”, it said it would give the recommendations “serious consideration.”
It also claimed the committee had not accused it of violating the UN convention, although the committee’s deputy chairwoman Felice Gaer, an American human rights expert, shot that down.
“When the committee addresses a problem and makes a recommendation, it sees the state as not meeting the requirements of the convention,” she said.
During the hearing earlier this month, Vatican officials revealed that 3,420 abuse cases had been handled over the past decade by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith, its prosecuting arm, mostly over offences from the 1950s to 1980s.
Of those, 848 priests were expelled from the priesthood, while a further 2,572 were ordered to “live a life of prayer or penance”, for example in a monastery.
But the committee complained of a dearth of data on abusers reported to police.
The Vatican, which counted 414,313 priests as members of the Church worldwide in 2012, said it “condemns sex abuse as a serious crime and a grave violation of human dignity”, but said calling rape and abuse a breach of the convention was “fundamentally flawed”.
But the committee’s Chilean chairman, Claudio Grossman, said that assessment was misplaced.
“We’re not saying that any sexual abuse is equivalent to a form of torture. We need to see the circumstances. The issue here is the responsiblity of a state,” he said.
“A responsiblity of a state comes into play if there was no prevention or there was no investigation and punishment.”
– Series of scandals –
The Church has faced a decade-long series of scandals over abuse by priests and lay officials, from Ireland to the United States and Australia.
Benedict XVI, pontiff from 2005 to 2013, was the first pope to apologise to victims and to call for zero tolerance.
His successor Pope Francis has stepped up efforts, revising Church laws and creating a Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors involving victims, to develop tougher ways to protect children and increase accountability.
The UN committee said that was a welcome move demonstrating his concern about abuse although it said the body’s remit and powers were still unclear.
But the recognition of the Commission’s work still pleased pro-Vatican groups.
“It is encouraging to see the Committee Against Torture affirm and praise the important reforms the Church has put into place to protect children and its ongoing commitment to those reforms,” said Ashley McGuire of Catholic Voices.
The Holy See insists the UN convention applies only to the territory of Vatican City and to its envoys abroad, and that it cannot be blamed for the behaviour of individual priests.
But Gaer rejected that.
“We’re not suggesting that the Holy See is responsible for the actions of every Catholic. But the officials of the Holy See do exercise control over a significant range of conduct that takes place outside the four corners of Vatican City,” she said.
Victims’ groups hailed the report.
“For too long, the Vatican has been able to deny and deflect attention from its role in enabling, perpetuating, and covering-up these serious crimes around the globe,” said Barbara Blaine, head of the Survivors’ Network of those Abused by Priests.
