GEVEVA
ABC News (Australia)
By Europe correspondent Mary Gearin, wires
The Vatican has told a United Nations panel assessing the Holy See’s adherence to the Convention on the Rights of the Child that it wants to be an example of global best practice when it comes to eliminating child sexual abuse by clergy or church personnel.
Vatican delegates at a historic hearing in Geneva also denied allegations of a cover-up, saying the church had set clear guidelines to protect children from predator Roman Catholic priests, whom Pope Francis has called “the shame of the church”.
In what is the first time the Vatican has been questioned publicly over the issue of child sex abuse in the church, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi said there was never any justification for any form of violence or exploitation of children.
However, he maintained that the Holy See is only legally responsible for abuse inside Vatican City.
And he told the panel at the end of the daylong session that, “we will take your questions seriously but we are not in a position to answer now”.
Some victims’ advocates have been disappointed by the church’s response to questions by UN child protection experts, chiefly its insistence that it only has jurisdiction over the Holy See and is not responsible for crimes committed by priests worldwide.
Barbara Blaine, the president of the US-based Survivors’ Network Of Those Abused By Priests, said: “We know full well that they have jurisdiction over every bishop in the whole world, and what we want to see is the Vatican punish the bishops who cover up the sex crimes. And we want them to turn over the information they have about crimes to police.”
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