VATICAN CITY
BBC News
A major UN child rights protection body has asked the Vatican to disclose details of thousands of paedophilia cases involving Catholic clergy.
The Committee on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) made the request ahead of its hearing with Holy See officials, scheduled for January.
It is the first time the UN has asked for such a wide-ranging appraisal.
After taking office in March, Pope Francis said cracking down on sex abuse was vital for the Church’s credibility.
He said the Vatican needed “to act decisively as far as cases of sexual abuse are concerned, promoting, above all, measures to protect minors, help for those who have suffered such violence in the past (and) the necessary procedures against those who are guilty”.
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