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In reply to the discussion: Atheists, Work With Us for Peace, Pope Says on Christmas [View all]theHandpuppet
(19,964 posts)Or is it just a subject some people would rather others not talk about?
Vatican rebuffs United Nations sex abuse inquiries
BBC News
December 3, 2013
The Vatican has refused to provide information requested by the United Nations on the alleged sexual abuse of children by priests, nuns or monks....
...The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child put a wide-ranging questionnaire to the Holy See - the city state's diplomatic entity - last July, asking for detailed information about the particulars of all sexual abuse cases notified to the Vatican since 1995.
The questions included whether priests, nuns and monks guilty of sexual crime were allowed to remain in contact with children, what legal action had been taken against them, whether the Church required clergy to report abuse to secular authorities and whether complainants were silenced.
In its response, the Holy See insisted that it was "separate and distinct" from the Roman Catholic Church, and that it was not its practice to disclose information about the religious discipline of clergy unless specifically requested to by the authorities in the country where they were serving....
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-25204805