Anti-gay pastor who cheered Orlando nightclub massacre found guilty of child molestation

[beam me up scottie]

3. And where they know they'll be protected:

For the first time, the Vatican unveils how it punished thousands of pedophile priests
By Terrence McCoy

Weeks ago, the United Nations released one of the greatest international indictments of the Vatican in years. Among the report’s concerns: “ritual beatings of children,” “torture and other cruel or degrading treatment” and sexual abuse and exploitation.

Worse, the report said, the Catholic Church hadn’t just ignored pleas for reform. It had protected pedophile priests. “Well-known child sexual abusers have been transferred from parish to parish or to other countries in an attempt by the church to cover-up such crimes,” the United Nations alleged.

On Tuesday, the Vatican’s ambassador to the United Nations sat at a desk before a U.N. committee in Geneva to address some of those concerns. Over three hours, the gray-haired archbishop unveiled for the first time the punishment the church has meted out to thousands of priests guilty of committing sexual abuse.

In the past decade, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi said the Vatican defrocked 848 priests. It also sanctioned an additional 2,572 clergymen with lesser penalties, including “a life of prayer and penitence.” In all, he reported, the Vatican handled more than 3,400 cases of sexual abuse since 2004. “There is no climate of impunity, but there is a total commitment to clean the house,” he said, adding that many of the cases of sexual abuse were from decades ago.

He said the church had changed: “I think we have crossed a threshold … in our evolution of the approach to these problems. It’s clear that the issue of sexual abuse of children, which is a worldwide plague and scourge, has been addressed in the last 10 years by the church in a systematic, comprehensive, constructive way.”

Critics immediately questioned that assessment. The main issue, they say, is the fact that the church gave numbers — but no names. “Every step towards more transparency about clergy sex crimes and cover-ups is good,” said David Clohessy, the director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests. “But this one — the number of priests defrocked — is largely meaningless. Parents can’t protect their kids from a number. What parents need are the names and whereabouts of child-molesting clerics.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/05/07/for-the-first-time-the-vatican-unveils-how-it-punished-thousands-of-pedophile-priests/

The UN demanded they turn over their records:

Scathing UN report demands Vatican 'immediately' act against child sexual abuse

The United Nations has demanded the Vatican "immediately remove" all clergy who are known or suspected child abusers and turn them over to authorities.

In an unprecedented report, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child said Catholic Church officials had imposed a "code of silence" on clerics to prevent them reporting attacks to police, and moved abusers from parish to parish "in an attempt to cover up such crimes".

It said the Holy See must hand over its archives on the sexual abuse of tens of thousands of children so culprits, as well as "those who concealed their crimes", can be held accountable.

The Vatican responded quickly, saying the church was committed to "defending and protecting the rights of the child" and promising to give the UN report "thorough examination".

However, it also added the UN was interfering in Catholic moral teachings because the report also criticised its positions on homosexuality, contraception and abortion.

The watchdog's exceptionally blunt paper - the UN's broadest critique of the Catholic hierarchy - followed its public grilling of Vatican officials last month.

"The committee is gravely concerned that the Holy See has not acknowledged the extent of the crimes committed, has not taken the necessary measures to address cases of child sexual abuse and to protect children, and has adopted policies and practices which have led to the continuation of the abuse by and the impunity of the perpetrators," the report said.

http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2014-02-05/scathing-un-report-demands-vatican-act-against-child-sex-abuse/5241300

And a Vatican official told new bishops they don't even need to report sex abuse to the police:

NEW CATHOLIC BISHOPS TOLD THEY DON’T HAVE TO REPORT SEXUAL ABUSE TO POLICE
By Lucy Westcott

A Vatican official has told newly appointed bishops that they have no obligation to report instances of clerical sexual abuse, as it's the responsibility of the victims and their families.

During a presentation for newly appointed bishops, French Monsignor Tony Anatrella said they don’t have a duty to report abuse because it should be the responsibility of victims and their families to go to the police. The comments were first reported by John L. Allen at the Catholic news site Cruxnow.com earlier this week.

Anatrella, a psychtherapist and consultant to the Pontifical Council for the Family and the Pontifical Council for Health Care Workers, is known for his controversial views on homosexuality, including that the acceptance of homosexuality in the West is creating “serious problems” for children. He also helped to write a training document for newly appointed bishops that further spells out the church’s stance on clerical sexual abuse.

“According to the state of civil laws of each country where reporting is obligatory, it is not necessarily the duty of the bishop to report suspects to authorities, the police or state prosecutors in the moment when they are made aware of crimes or sinful deeds,” the training document, which was released by the Vatican earlier this month, reads. The document says bishops are required only to report the suspected abuse internally.

http://www.newsweek.com/bishops-no-obligation-report-sexual-abuse-425509