VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider
The Vatican confirms that 260 priests were defrocked by Pope Benedict XVI in 2011 and another 124 in 2012, but the actual number of priests dismissed from the ministry could be higher
GERARD O’CONNELL
ROME
Pope Benedict defrocked 384 priests in the two year period, 2011 and 2012, for the sexual abuse of minors.
The Vatican confirmed the story, first broken by the Associated Press news (AP) news agency on January 17, after earlier denying it.
It confirmed that 260 priests were defrocked or removed from the ministry in 2011 and another 124 priests in the year 2012.
The data is contained in the relevant Yearbook of the Holy See’s Activities for the years in question. The Holy See presented this and other raw data to the UN Committee for the Rights of the Child earlier in the week.
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