Today the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’s Report to the Vatican confirms what we have known for decades, top officials in the Catholic Church:
1) have not acknowledged the extent of the crimes committed;
2) have not taken the necessary measures to address cases of child sexual abuse and to protect children; and
3) have adopted policies and practices which have continued to put children in danger
While this report made international news today, it is not news to us. Just in the last few months we’ve revealed extensive cover-up through the release of documents and lists of priests accused of abuse. First it was the court-ordered disclosure of the names of abusive priests in Minnesota and then came the long-anticipated disclosure of abusive priests’ names and documents showing the Archdiocese of Chicago’s knowledge and complicity in clergy sex abuse. It has been only
through the courage and strength of the survivors we work with that our firm
and others over the past years and decades have been able to reveal the
institution’s pattern and practice of protecting its own reputation at the
expense of children.
through the courage and strength of the survivors we work with that our firm
and others over the past years and decades have been able to reveal the
institution’s pattern and practice of protecting its own reputation at the
expense of children.
The UN Panel provided the Vatican with what seem to be common-sense recommendations that will begin to address its current deplorable handling of clergy sex abuse, including:
• Amend Church laws relating to the rights of children to be protected from sexual exploitation and abuse.
• Stop “plac[ing] the preservation of the reputation of the Church and the protection of the perpetrators above children’s best interests.”
• End the impunity and hold those who abuse children accountable for their crimes.
• Stop impeding the investigations of those who are attempting to do the right thing by holding abusive priests and the church accountable.
• “[I]mmediately remove all known and suspected child sexual abusers from assignment and refer the matter to the relevant law enforcement authorities for investigation and prosecution purposes.”
• “[P]rovide training on child rights to all priests and members of Catholic orders and institutions working with children.”
It is shameful that an institution that portrays itself as a beacon of moral superiority must be told to do the above.
Just hours after the report was released it was already clear that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), an organization that represents Bishops from Catholic dioceses in the United States, indicated its lack of interest in listening to the findings or recommendations of the panel. Sister Mary Ann Walsh, spokesperson for USCCB, asserted: “There is no safer place for a child at this point than the Catholic Church.”