CANADA
Our Windsor
OTTAWA – A Canadian expert on Roman Catholicism says a United Nations committee overstepped its mandate in a scathing report that accused the Vatican of systematically covering up child sexual abuse by priests.
Robert Dennis, vice president of the Canadian Catholic Historical Association, said the UN panel watered down its advocacy of child sexual abuse victims by criticizing the Roman Catholic church for its doctrine on homosexuality, abortion and contraception.
Dennis said that by taking on core Catholic doctrine, the panel detracted from its examination of a serious issue facing the church — the decades-long coverups of sexual abuse by clergy in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Germany and elsewhere.
“We can’t blend these issues together. The report itself probably would have been more effective if it stayed more focused on this crucial question of child abuse,” said Dennis, also a Queen’s University professor in Kingston, Ont.
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