GENEVA
Aljazeera
The Roman Catholic Church has defended its record on tackling clerical sexual abuse, telling a UN committee it was keen to become “an example of best practice” in the field of child protection.
At a hearing in Geneva on Thursday, Monsignor Silvano Tomasi told the committee that the Holy See, which is recognised by international law as a sovereign entity headed by the Pope, had “carefully delineated policies and procedures” to help eliminate priestly paedophilia and to work with state authorities to fight such crime.
He made the remarks at the start of a hearing that will challenge the church over allegations it enabled the abuse of children by protecting paedophile priests and its own reputation at the expense of victims.
But his initial statement made no reference to the controversies that have dogged the church for decades.
Tomasi, who is the Holy See’s representative to the UN, said: “The result of the combined action taken by local churches and by the Holy See presents a framework that, when properly applied, will help eliminate the occurrence of child sexual abuse by clergy and other church personnel.
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